Catch Up!
by JadexandxDiamonds
Summary: "Look. I already know about what you do. You're a street racer, you drift, and I want in." Neji's back instantly stiffened. Naruto's eyes grew wider. Sasuke and Shikamaru drew their lips in thin lines and glared at Tenten who smirked and narrowed her eyes more. If he was trying to give her hell he sure sucked at it. Heaven always won, always.
1. Heaven or Hell

Catch Up! Summary: (A/U) _"Look. I already know about what you do. You're a street racer, you drift, and I want in."Neji's back instantly stiffened. Naruto's eyes grew wider. Sasuke and Shikamaru drew their lips in thin lines and glared at Tenten who smirked and narrowed her eyes more. If he was trying to give her hell he sure sucked at it. Heaven always won,_ _ **always**_ _._

 _Rated: PG-13 due to violence and language_

 _Disclaimer: Didn't own Naruto 10 years ago, and not much has changed ;)_

 _Enjoy!_

 _Xoxox JadexandDiamonds_

* * *

 _Monday_

Tenten Nauru stood at the front doors of Konoha High School while staring down the long hallway at frantically moving students trying to head to their classrooms.

' _This is so stupid_ ', she thought.

It could not be legal to literally move from Chinatown, New York to Tokyo, Japan over the weekend and have to attend a brand new school the last year of high school. She clenched the folded schedule in her left hand and made her way down the long, now almost empty hallway.

Her mid-thigh length navy blue pleated skirt swayed slightly as she stepped. The school logo plastered on the right chest pocket of the white colored short sleeve shirt matched the logo in the right corner of the front of her skirt. Tenten didn't have to wear a uniform in Chinatown, and felt the need to keep tugging at her tucked in top until it was loose entirely. Her hair was in two twin buns; her signature she decided long ago commemorating her grandmother on her mother's side. Chinese women in her family always wore buns whether one or two. Her mother always wore one.

A faint smile crossed Tenten's features. She had ended up in Tokyo due to the sudden passing of her mother. They lived in Chinatown together, where her mom was a nurse at a nearby hospital. Their address was not in the most favorable environment, but their tiny apartment that was surrounded by other tiny apartment rooms gave them shelter. It was all her mother could afford, as Tenten was still in high school. Now, she was living with her father. They separated from each other's lives when she was about 5, and she only visited him once when she was 12-13. Her mother left her father and never looked back. But now, he was a part of her life again. And the gap of time lost between them showed in their now awkward relationship.

Tenten walked casually up a set of stairs at the end of the hallway.

Their relationship was patchy; her and her father's, but life is patchy as well. It is what you make of it that matters. They have no hard feelings towards each other. Meanwhile her mother and her left on not so good terms before her passing. She had just caught Tenten coming home from a rave at 3am on a weekday. Tenten thought her mom was working until 6am at the Hospital but she left early because she wasn't feeling too good. They always got into arguments and misunderstandings. It wasn't that Tenten was bad, she just found wild activities to be fun.

Sighing outwardly, Tenten reached the top step of the set of stairs and looked back down at her schedule...301… Scanning the number on the wooden doors as she walked through the small hallway her eyes fell on her designated classroom.

"Well…here goes nothing." she murmured. The moment Tenten opened the door, was the moment all senior eyes fell onto her. The professor, who was standing in front of his desk with papers in hand peered out of his glasses to eye Tenten as well.

"Tenten san, it's nice to see you've finally made it. With no trouble finding this room I assume?" He stepped forward to meet Tenten as she walked into the classroom.

"Yeah, I guess you can say that." She mumbled.

"Excellent, have a seat towards the window please, and turn to Chapter 4 in your textbook." He handed her a used Physics textbook and pointed to a seat at the far right of the room in the last column of desks. With all eyes still on her she ignored them, and walked over to the empty desk and sat down while sliding her book bag off her shoulders. As she was getting situated, the professor continued his lecture.

"Psttt!" Tenten froze while reaching down for a pencil in her backpack and looked over to the desk next to hers. Only to see a brown eyed, brown haired guy grinning at her.

"Nice to see a new face in here, I'm Kiba by the way." Tenten eyed Kiba for a few more seconds before deciding to engage in a slight conversation with him. She leaned back into her desk chair and glanced at the front of the class, then back at him.

"Tenten." She whispered back. He seemed pleased with her name and grinned even more.

"I'm sure you will like it here. There are some faces to avoid but there are some, like mine, you will want to get to know." Tenten smirked and rolled her eyes at his comment. "I hope we get to know each other more Tenten chan." Her smirk stayed on her face as she glanced in Kiba's direction once again.

"Likewise." She whispered and looked back up at the board. Kiba was the first fresh face who'd spoken to her all morning. He seemed open and not hesitant to introduce himself to her. Which, then again she was a girl and he was a guy, so maybe he just liked to flirt. She chuckled inwardly at that thought. She didn't pick up a flirting vibe from him, just a friendly one. But he did mention something about faces to avoid….Tenten stopped jotting down notes and took her gaze briefly off the board. She wondered what Kiba meant by that.

Tenten looked down at her schedule again while standing outside of the physics classroom. Class was just dismissed and now she needed to find her next room.

"Room 203 Calculus. Take a left at the end of this hallway, go down the stairs then make another left. Third door on the right." Tenten turned quickly to her side to see Kiba smiling at her while looking over her shoulder. She smiled back, glad that he was there to tell her where to find the room.

"Thanks Kiba."

"No Problem Tenten!" Kiba yelled as he started walking down the hallway, only to disappear in the sea of students.

Less than one minute later, Tenten arrived at Room 203 and came face to back, actually, with a rather tall, slightly lean blonde haired student. He had to be a senior because his height was clearly 6ft. He wore khaki pants and a white tucked in shirt, but that was all she could see considering his back was turned to her, blocking the entrance. Continuing his conversation, Naruto had no idea she stood there just waiting.

"You're blocking somebody baka." A silky yet cold voice chopped their conversation to a halt as Naruto quickly turned around and looked down. Hazel eyes met blue and he smiled nervously.

"Oh my bad! Sorry about that!" He stepped away from in front of the entrance and stood off to the side, allowing Tenten to walk through. She smiled back at him as she walked in the room.

"It's okay. I'm really in no rush to even be in here." Naruto instantly laughed and Tenten noticed how his whole face lit up when he did. Now that she was in the room, she saw the rest of him. He was actually not bad looking. A tie loosely hung around his neck underneath the collar of his slightly unbuttoned shirt. She glanced at the person standing beside him. He seemed distant, yet reserved. His hands were in his pockets as he glanced at Tenten meeting her gaze. His dark blue eyes made her flinch slightly at the depth of coldness in them. It looked as if his features were unaware of what a smile ever was. His navy blue hair sort of gave him an edge and paired with what Tenten deemed to be his overall personality, made him even more mysterious. Her smile faltered a bit when he met her gaze.

"I'm Naruto by the way!" He gained Tenten's attention again and pointed at Sasuke. "That's Sasuke. Ignore him, he always has a constipated look on his face."

Sasuke glared at Naruto. "Shut up you moron." His cold, monotone voice should have made Naruto flinch, but he only grinned in response. Tenten's smile returned.

"I'm Tenten."

"I've never seen you before, so you're new?"

"Well yes actually. Today is my first day."

"Ahhhh! Nice to meet you Tenten!"

"Same." She responded and nodded her head at Naruto before walking further into the classroom. The setup of the room was similar to her previous room. Desks in columns and rows; half the desks were already filled, so Tenten walked over to and empty desk in the middle of the class. She sat down and pulled her binder and pencil from her book bag.

"Hina-chan! Hey, how are you?!" Tenten looked over at the direction Naruto was calling to and noticed a dark haired girl around her age seated next to her left. Said girl Hina smiled softly at Naruto and formed a deep crissum blush on her cheeks.

"I-I'm fine Naruto-chan, h-h-how are you?" Her voice was gentle and soft when compared to Naruto's loud and over the top voice. He smiled at her from across the room and held up a thumb.

"Pretty good! I'm glad to see you're not sick anymore, I was worried about you all last week." Hina's eyes widened a bit and she glanced down at her desk before looking back up at Naruto who was now just a row away from her desk.

"You-you were?"

"Yeah, I missed your company!" As if even possible Tenten saw Hina grow even redder.

"I-I missed yours as well Naruto-chan..." Naruto smiled even bigger and turned around to finish his conversation with Sasuke and another guy. Tenten watched as Hina was breathing heavily and grew slightly concerned.

"Hey, are you alright?" Tenten leaned over to Hina with concern laced in her eyes. Hina turned her eyes to Tenten and she looked shocked. She didn't notice she was right there. She smiled slightly.

"I-I'm fine. Thank you through..."

"I was worried you were sick or something the way your face just grew red." She saw Hina pause slightly before fidgeting with a pencil sitting on her desk.

"N-no, it ha-happens a lot actually." She said almost under her breath and took a quick glance at Naruto before looking back down at her desk. Tenten felt a smile form across her face. She just realized why.

"You like him, don't you." It was more of a statement than a question. Hina quickly turned to face Tenten with large eyes. Eyes the color of lavender, which she found ironic for how soft and delicate Hina seemed to be.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I'm Tenten! I know you're thinking how I am talking to you when I don't even know you." She smiled at the timid girl.

"I-It's okay. I'm Hinata." She smiled lightly at Tenten.

"I love your eyes, what brand of contacts are those?" Hinata laughed slightly and Tenten rose an eyebrow.

"There n-not contacts, they're the real color of m-my eyes. I don't w-wear contacts." Tenten felt so dumb. She mentally slapped herself then laughed out loud at her own failed assumption.

"Oh! Wow, okay, well sorry for that. "

"Thank you." She gave Tenten a full smile and instantly, she noticed a similarity between Hinata and Naruto. Their smiles.

"Okay class, let's all have our seats and we will pick up from where we left off on Friday!" Tenten and Hinata faced the front of the class as well as the rest of the students. She had to admit, she was looking forward to this school year now. There were a lot of…Tenten shifted her gaze away from the board and to the left side of the classroom where Naruto, Sasuke, and two other noticeably different guys sat…interesting people at this place. Interesting indeed.

It was lunch hour and students strolled around the cafeteria, some looking for seats, others holding conversations. Stepping towards to glass doors leading outside the cafeteria, Tenten followed beside Hinata. She had invited her to sit with her and two other friends for lunch and Tenten kindly accepted the invite, automatically taking a liking to Hinata. She was carrying a water bottle and a small plastic container of salad she'd bought from in the lunch line moments ago. Her book bag hanged loosely on her right shoulder and her eyes scanned the almost empty courtyard area. Most students that were outside were sitting or lying across the grass surrounding the courtyard of tables and benches. Hinata took a seat at an empty table and Tenten sat directly across from her. They sat in silence for a while, both unwrapping their lunches, when all of a sudden they had company.

"No, I think we should do a cheer that's completely different than the last time we went against them." Tenten saw a blonde haired, blue eyed girl about the same age as her walk towards where she and Hinata were sitting.

"I agree. We need to have more basket tosses, and a better pyramid this time." A pink haired girl walked along side of the blonde. Both of their frames were slightly lean but also muscular at the same time. Their forearms had slight muscle and their thighs were also toned. They both wore short shorts with the school logo stitched on the front left side, and a white crop top with the school logo also stitched but in the middle.

"Sakura chan, Ino chan, hey." Hinata voiced delicately while looking in their direction when they were only feet away from the table. Said girls both looked away from each other, looked at Hinata and smiled.

"Hina chan! You're back!" Ino shouted high pitch and squeezed Hinata into a tight hug, despite her sitting and Ino standing.

Sakura chuckled and observed from the side. "I think your choking her Ino pig." Ino quickly let go of Hinata who managed to breathe deeply.

"Sorry Hina, I just missed you!"

Sakura was the first to notice the quiet Tenten sitting directly in front of Hinata and shocked her slightly. "Oh! Hi there, I'm Sakura!" She smiled openly at Tenten who in return also smiled.

"Tenten."

"That means heaven right? I like that name!" Came Ino from beside Sakura who smiled at her as well.

"Thanks, I always thought it was ironic since I always gave both my parents hell." Ino and Sakura both laughed at her comment.

"I'm Ino by the way. Nice to meet you." Ino and Sakura sat down, Ino beside Hinata and Sakara next Tenten.

"Nice to meet you too. I see you're cheerleaders…" Tenten said while gathering pieces of lettuce on her fork. The girls all looked at her and Sakura smiled first.

"Yep! Last year here and we're finally the ones in charge of the team. It's been worth it though. What about you? I know you must be new, but do you play a sport?"

"I played volleyball in America, but I haven't really looked into what sports are offered here..."

"Volleyball? Oh my gosh! We play too! You should totally join our team!" Ino chirped while unraveling an organic cocoa bar she pulled out of her Pink Victoria Secret backpack.

"Yeah, we need more good members on our team. If I have to tell Riku how to spike again, I swear I will lose it." She rolled her eyes and the three girls chuckled.

"I would love to join, when do you guys meet?"

"Mondays and Wednesdays at 5 in the gym. We usually stay till 7. Speaking of practice, " Ino turned her gaze to Sakura now. "Did you add on anything else to that routine for this weekend?"

Sakura paused before answering "Oh yeah! I forgot to show you since we were so busy working on the tournament cheer!"

They continued to speak to one another with Hinata slipping in her comment every now and again. Tenten let her gaze drift across the courtyard. This really was a neat scene, compared to the barred off 12 x 12 grass lot located behind her high school in Chinatown. This was like a breath of fresh air. Her eyes traveled to a group of guys walking casually along the sidewalk towards the courtyard entrance. One she easily noticed was Naruto, and then Sasuke. To his left walked a guy she recognized from her Calculus class. He had brown spikey hair in a ponytail, and wore khakis with his long sleeved white top completely unbuttoned revealing a sharp white t shirt underneath, untucked. His face bore an expression of complete boredom while constantly checking the watch on his wrist. And the last guy walking with them caught Tenten's gaze instantly. He had long, loose black hair that stopped a little past the middle of his back, the color of charcoal, and it swayed easily as he walked. His face was pale, and his frame was slightly muscular. The long sleeves on his arms were rolled up revealing very toned forearms. His shirt unbuttoned half way down revealed a white t shirt as well. He had on khakis and his hands were shoved in his pockets. He looked as though he had never smiled a day in his life.

At that moment, said guy looked directly at Tenten. Her heart skipped a beat and a small gasp escaped her mouth.

His eyes were lavender, but the softness of the color never reached his features. His emotionless expression drove away any adjectives that may have described him as gentle. His features were hard. Lips spread thin, skin flawless. How could someone so…perfect look so unhappy? How can someone have the features of a god and be so…cold.

Tenten kept her gaze on him as she spoke towards Hinata. "Who is that Hinata?" Hinata turned her eyes towards the direction Tenten was staring in. She blinked before responding.

"T-that's my cousin."

 _Cousin?_ Tenten made no indication that she heard Hinata, only remained eye locked with her cousin. His blank, empty stare quickly turned into a glare as he sharply narrowed his eyes at her. He turned his head to face Sasuke and she watched as his lips parted to talk. Sasuke quickly looked up in Tenten's direction and smirked. The reserved bastard did have an expression other than a constipated one after all. As the group of guys made their way into the cafeteria, she sighed, releasing a breath she didn't even know she was holding in.

"What the hell was that all about?" Tenten's eyes widened as she looked at Sakura. Ino and Hinata looked at her as well.

"I was hoping one of you all could tell me. Does your cousin always look like a pregnant lady in labor, because he looks like he's mad at everyone and everything?"

Ino nearly choked on her chocolate while Sakura spit out the water in her mouth to the side of her. They both busted out laughing and Hinata smiled meekly.

"N-no, h-he's normally at peace-

"Oh please Hina, your cousin is never at peace. That's his normal expression Tenten, so you'd better get used to it." Ino stated sarcastically.

"But why does he look like someone pissed in his cereal? Seriously! That's not normal."

Still laughing, Ino looked at Tenten. "Kami, that was funny. I like you, you're going to fit right in with us."

"Just never say that to him directly. He will make your life hell." Sakura said before finishing the last of her water bottle.

Tenten smirked. ' _Heaven against Hell….we'll see how that goes._ '

Tenten was over the day by the time she made it out of the glass front doors of the school. The bell had rang not too long ago, and students made a bee line straight out the glass doors. She bid bye to Ino, Sakura, and Hinata while putting away unnecessary textbooks for the night in her locker. With several notebooks and study sheets in her arms, she held them against her chest and made her way to her Mustang. It was a red 1970 Fastback; perfect for her since she was just barely 5'4 in height. The mustang wasn't big, it was the right size. Her father decided it would make a nice welcome home gift; his way of trying to ease the transition of moving to a new country her senior year. It was refurbished with all new interior, a fresh paint coat, and new tires. She stood outside the driver's door and shuffled for her keys in her over the shoulder purse. It was more like a bag and less of a purse. She liked it because it was like a garbage bag endless pit. Not compartmentalized like most girly purses. She cursed lowly as she leaned her sheets and notebooks against the car door with her chest and attempted to balance everything all at once. In a few seconds she managed to find her car keys and pulled them out of her purse. Since her bag was to her right side hanging off her shoulder, when she looked up from it, she was looking at her right.

And she met his gaze once more, this time across the parking lot.

It was the second time that day they had exchanged stares. The first time was as if he was going to slit her throat out of hatred, but this gaze…..this gaze was less intimidating. His eyes were glossed over with an unreadable emotion. His expression was blank however there was a ghost of amusement in his facial features. Tenten's eyes were blank and her face was also. Neji was leaning against the driver's side of a black 2015 Mustang with slightly tinted windows. His arms folded across his chest loosely, with a dark brown messenger bag slung over his right shoulder and hanging near his side. His gaze lingered on her for a few more seconds before shifting to her Mustang. One end of his mouth twitched upwards but it was a gesture far too distant for Tenten to notice. She did however, see the slight narrowing of his eyes and the guard of his face fell, revealing a look of impression at the red body beside her. His guard came back up of course when he looked at her again. Only for a second as Naruto yelled something inaudible to Tenten's ears. His gaze shifted to the passenger side of his car and he leaned off his side. Answering Naruto while opening his car door and slipping inside.

As if out of a trance, Tenten blinked several times before adjusting to her surroundings and right state of mind. She unlocked her door and slid in, sliding her notebooks and papers to the passenger side and closed the door. Starting the engine, she buckled her seat belt and back out. Today had been an interesting day indeed.

 **7:18 PM**

 _(Monday Evening)_

Tenten sighed out loud to no one in particular. She just finished studying for Calculus and decided to head downstairs to the kitchen for a snack break. It was a small kitchen, but with it being her father living here, it was enough room for him, and now for her as well. The house seemed smaller than she remembered when she was a little girl. It was two stories but with it being Japan, two stories in America was different than two stories in Japan. Living in Chinatown, Tenten was use to the small space though. There were two small bedrooms upstairs; her father's room, and her own. He actually kept everything the same. Including the old elementary school crayon drawings, which were taped along the walls. Their rooms were about the size of two cubicles, just enough space to hold a bed, a dresser, and the closet. At least there was a window in her room. The bathroom was downstairs since the upstairs was too small. Offside of the entrance to the townhouse, it was small and practical, despite the shower being located there as well. The floors were bamboo all throughout the house, and a dining room was off to the side of the kitchen. In it was a small round table with two seats.

Tenten eyed the two chairs while chewing slowly on what she realized was an expired granola bar. They were dusty and seemed to have not been used in a while. Her gaze traveled to the living room. Right across the small bathroom and in front of the kitchen. It was very small. It held a small flat screen TV, a loveseat, and a random chair. There was a tall lamp in the corner and a small coffee table in the middle of the room. Stacks of papers were piled on top of it and Tenten smiled to herself. Her dad was still the same unorganized hoarder she remembered.

Throwing away the remaining portion of the granola bar, she grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and started walking towards the garage door. That was the only reason her father bought this townhouse. Aside from the fact that it was a place to live, there was a small garage that he used for his workshop aside from the body shop downtown. It was where he took care of personal customers like friends and longtime customers. Or sometimes his own car. It was where he had fixed up Tenten's coming home gift. At times he would store valuable cars in here to decrease the possibility of robbery in his shop.

She opened the door to only hear the sound of her father's loud voice and Yui. Yui was his best friend and he was her father's auto shop partner. They worked on cars together and that was their business. She walked down a few steps before Turing to sit on an empty stool in the corner of the garage. Getting a clear view of the scene before her.

"I don't know what Misuaki was thinking Shou." Her father, Shou, looked in Tenten's direction and smiled tiredly.

"Hey Ten, I thought you were upstairs studying?" He continued walking around a car with a sheet over it, as if inspecting it before actually seeing it. To the left side of the garage stood Yui with his hands on his waist and sweat dripping off his forehead. He looked up at Tenten as well and smiled.

"Hey Ten! Glad to see you're finally back here! Staying for a while I hope."

Tenten grinned at Yui and nodded "Indefinitely actually."

Yui's smile faltered a bit. "Yeah, I heard. I'm very sorry…but hey! At least you and your dad can spend that bonding time together." He looked over at Shou who was still walking around the car.

"Isn't that what you guys call it? Bonding time?" Tenten laughed. Yui was a bachelor at 45 still. No kids, never been married, and never wanted to be. He didn't know or understand how parenthood was supposed to work.

Shou grinned at Tenten and looked over at Yui. "Yeah, that's what it's called Yu."

"Alright, well," Yui stated while rubbing his hands and moving towards the car under the sheet. "Let's see what damage Misuaki was telling us about. I hope it's not as bad as he made it seem."

Shou removed the sheet over the car. Tenten's eyes widened. It was bad but not as bad as Misuaki emphasized. The right side of the hood was smashed in, but not to the extent that the front window was damaged. The bottom right front of the car was also damaged.

"God damnit, what the hell was he thinking?! We JUST fixed his car two weeks ago, and now this?" Yui shouted in frustration as he walked around to inspect the back of the vehicle. It was a Mercedes Benz, GLE Coupe. Black on the outside with beige on the inside.

Shou sighed heavily and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. "He said it was bizarre what happened to him."

"Well it had better be if he wants us to now fix this shit."

Shou walked over to the front of the coupe and began touching certain parts. "He said he was at an intersection when his light turned green, and he sped forward." Tenten drank some more water from the bottle and kept her gaze on her father as he continued speaking.

"Next thing he knew, some car going at least 100 miles per hour sped past him from the east and clipped the front of his coupe." Yui stared with wide eyes at Shou.

"That car wasn't fine, it had to have damages!"

Shou shrugged his shoulders and looked at Yui. "I don't know. It must have. Misuaki said the car was trying to turn into the lane beside him and go the way he had just came from. He said he got a good look at the side of the car. It was black, and from the side looked like a mustang."

Yui's eyes narrowed. "I bet he was drifting."

"He had to be. There's no way in hell that driver was just riding around going that fast for no reason. Misuaki said that his passenger window was down. Claimed he got a pretty good glance at who it was because they looked him dead in his eyes. From his description, it won't be hard to find him."

Tenten's eyes narrowed. Drifting? She'd only heard about it before briefly but never really knew much about it. Back in Chinatown there were several gangs that used to be involved with Drifting but several of her classmates were into it as well, so it wasn't just for gang members. It sounded intriguing to be honest. She had always been interested in finding out more.

"What did they look like?" Yui asked

"Misuaki swore It was a young man, must have been younger than 20. His hair was long and all over the place he said. It was black and since the window was down, I guess the wind was whipping it around. I don't know. I swear he was drunk again when he saw this because it makes no sense. Then he said throughout all the commotion, his eyes locked with his and they were grey or something. Like a light lavender."

Tenten spat out the water in her mouth and started choking. Placing a hand over her chest she patted it and coughed. Both Shou and Yui looked at Tenten with confusion and concern.

"Ten, you okay?" Tenten nodded her head quickly as a response and put the lid back on her water.

Yui eyed Tenten for a while before turning back to Shou who started working on the car in front of him. "What do you think Shou?"

"…..I don't know what to think. Drifting is common here, and he said right after the car turned beside him, seconds later 2 other cars sped in that direction too, going at least 100 miles. I believe him. Not the first time a customer came with a similar story to us Yu."

Yui scratched his head and started reaching for his toolbox. "I don't know. It's possible I guess."

Shou took a tool Yui handed him from his toolbox and looked up at him. "Anything is possible today."

Tenten's mind started racing. She had to confirm if this was true. It-…it couldn't possibly be! Hinata's cousin being a drifter-a street racer sounded so absurd! He did drive a black mustang, but there were no scratches on it, marks, or anything actually. It was perfectly fine! But he did eye her Mustang, and look like he was about to murder her. She shook her head as she headed back into the house. Was it possible? That maybe…just maybe…that was him who ruined Musuaki's car? Tenten walked up the stairs to her room and closed the door behind her.

No. Not possible. There are…..very few people in the world with those color eyes. Hinata is too shy to do something like that. But her cousin?...he seemed to fit the profile. Or rather his personality did. Tenten stared at the study question in front of her while laying across her bed. She studied for another hour before deciding to call it quits for the night. She had come to the conclusion that she was going to confront Hinata's cousin about what she had heard. Not ask him if it was true, because she knew that it was. There's no way it was someone else. It was him. And she wanted in. She wanted to be a part of this whole new world that was unknown to her. Granted it was illegal, and she was underage, but something was tugging at her gut making her choose to do this. She settled on going to school early and asking-no, demanding he let her join him. And the more she was thinking, the more she realized how close Naruto, Sasuke, and pineapple head were to him, it all made logical sense. They must have raced together. They were too close, not to know what Hinata's cousin was doing. They were a group. Maybe not a gang, she decided, but definitely a group. And whether Ino, Sakura, and Hinata knew was too far of a reach, but her gut screamed the guys were in.

Turning off the lamp sitting on the floor in her room, she undid her two twin buns on her head, and allowed her hair to drape across her back. It was mid length of her back and chocolate brown. It had been a day since she'd washed it, and since it was currently hot In Japan, it curled up easily, thus giving her waves. She laid down on her bed and smirked in the darkness.

Looks like heaven is kicking hells ass.

* * *

The next morning Tenten was in a rush. She looked at the watch on her wrist as she turned her steering wheel to the right and made way into the semi busy high school parking lot. Now Tenten was usually never a punctual person, but this day was different. She needed to be on time in order to catch Hinata's cousin in the parking lot. It was 7:48 am and she arranged herself to be there at 7:30, but in true Tenten fashion she woke up late. As she parked into her parking spot, she grabbed her notebooks, papers, and keys, and opened her car door. Upon closing it behind her, she scanned the parking lot. No black mustang insight.

She glanced down at her wrist again. 7:52. School started in eight minutes. The daunting thought that he might not be coming to school crossed her mind and her eyes widened. What if he wasn't? She snapped out of it and shook her head. No, he was coming today. He was. Tenten felt the swift morning breeze comb through her hair. In a rush to leave, Tenten didn't get a chance to put her buns up on her head. She managed to hop in the shower however, but wasn't able to do much with it after that. She brushed it and it now hung, mid length down her back semi dry. She wasn't found of it being out, but it was either do her hair or detention for improper uniform. She picked her hair. Tenten tapped her right foot impatiently while leaning against her car. She looked at her watch again. 7:58am. After seconds of deliberating, Tenten let out an annoyed sigh and decided she would confront him at another time. Just as she was starting to turn around, the black mustang finally pulled into the parking lot. Tenten's eyes widened. Talk about perfect timing. She stayed put still leaning against the side of her car as she watched Naruto, Sasuke, Pineapple head, and Hinata's cousin fall out of his car. They all seemed to be in a good mood, smiling and smirking at each other. Upon hearing Hinata's cousin lock his car, Tenten leaned off her car. The group of guys were walking casually towards the front doors of the school. Completely charismatic about the first bell ringing.

Tenten approached them and stood right in front of the walking group of guys, making them stop. Naruto, who was laughing stopped and looked wide eyed at Tenten. Sasuke merely narrowed his eyes at her, and Pineapple head lazily glanced at her. Hinata's cousin was in front of Tenten directly. His 6 foot tall form blocking the sun out of her eyes, and his eyes, now up close were more alluring than she'd realize. He sharpened his glare at her and she resisted the urge to roll her narrowed eyes at him. Ugh. Back to the pregnant woman stage again.

She didn't flinch under his intense cold, glare. She wondered if she touched his pale skin, would his body temperature match his personality.

"Hey." Tenten stated as calmly as possible, as if she wasn't interrupting the guys advance to the front of the building.

Hinata's cousin continued to glare at her, and for the first time, he spoke to her.

"What." Tenten noted how his voice matched his personality; just as empty as the look in his eyes.

"I want in."

Naruto exchanged glances with Sasuke, while pineapple head kept his now narrowed eyes on Tenten.

Hinata's cousin took this opportunity to study the female standing in his way. Up close, she was actually attractive. Full lips, Hazel eyes, plush cheeks, slim yet toned figure. His eyes widened only a small portion as he stared at her hair. When he saw her yesterday, it was in two buns, but today it was down. A little wet, but the waves in her hair showed to be a shade darker than the color of her eyes as the sunlight basked upon her. She was attractive. But he'd been with many attractive females. This girl was no different.

"What the hell are you talking about." He spat out in an annoyed tone.

" I. want. In." Tenten stated as if it was the simplest phrase in the world.

Neji narrowed his eyes even more, seeing the persistence in hers. "I don't know what you're-

"Look. I already know about what you do. You're a street racer, you drift, and I want in."

Hinata's cousin's back instantly stiffened. Naruto's eyes grew wider. Sasuke and Pineapple head drew their lips in thin lines and glared at Tenten.

Tenten smirked and narrowed her eyes more, pleased with their reactions, especially the stilled cousin of Hinata.

If he was trying to give her hell he sure sucked at it. Heaven always won, always.

* * *

 **End of Chapter One**

Preview of Chapter Two:

 _It was the last period of the day and for Tenten it was a study period so she didn't report to her designated room when the bell rang; she was holding a conversation with Kiba when she felt a tug on her forearm and suddenly realized she was being dragged away from Kiba._

 _"Hey! What gives!?"_

 _"Excuse us." Neji stated coldly while not even making eye contact with Kiba or Tenten. He instead chose to look straight ahead as he dragged Tenten by her arm to a nearby janitor closet._

….

A/N

In this storyline, all the guys are 18 except Kiba who is actually 17 just like all the girls. The inspiration came to me not from Tokyo Drift, but just out of nowhere. I like street racing (No, I've nerve done it), but it also interested me. Anyways, I use to write back in the day on here, and it's crazy how times have changed. Literally 10 years ago, so many ideas and stories were being bounced around, and now there are few. Oh well, I'll add to the list then. Make sure you add this story under alert if you want notifications! Review and comment too! Any questions you have feel free to ask, BUT if you're question has been answered in another chapter, I wont respond lol. So don't think I'm ignoring you. I will update every Monday & Friday!

See you soon!

Xoxox


	2. Hell

**You all are so sweet! Thankks so much for your feedback; all of you! I am excited to say I kept my word and elivered Chapter two to you all...and now here you go!**

 **Chapter Two: Hell**

* * *

The smirk on Tenten's face only lasted for a mere second before faltering slightly. Hinata's cousin's face slowly leaned downwards towards Tenten's face and his glare intensified, as if it wasn't intimidating enough already. She saw how he clenched his fists tightly before looking back up at him. The next few words out of his lips made Tenten glare right back at him.

"I don't know who the hell you are, but I promise you I have no idea what you are talking about. No, idea." Spoken calmly and darkly, he emphasized the no at the last part of the sentence.

Tenten's face showed annoyance and irritation. "Drop the act. I know it was you. I've seen the damage you've done first hand." She spat sharply causing Sasuke to widen his eyes a bit. Pineapple head started to glare at Tenten while Naruto stood frozen waiting for Neji to respond.

She smirked as she folded her arms across her chest. "You are easy to recognize. You should really think about getting contacts or cutting your hair."

Hinata's cousin's lip twitched as pure hatred started to seep into his eyes. He leaned his face backwards slightly and just started at her. As though resisting the urge to say what was truly on his mind. Tenten glanced past him and saw Naruto smile slightly in amusement. Sasuke's face was still blank but his eyes glazed with slight amusement as well. Her smirk grew from satisfaction and looked back up at Hinata's cousin who still glared down at her. It was Pineapple head who spoke up while walking up to Hinata's cousin from behind and placed a hand on his shoulder while the other remained in his pocket.

"It's time we leave." Hinata's cousin turned his head slightly to glance behind him and silently agreed. Next thing Tenten knew, the once stilled cousin started walking again, and as he walked past her he purposely bumped his arm into her shoulder, causing Tenten to wince in slight pain and cuff it. She turned around to watch the four guys continue their stride to the glass front doors of the school. With backs to her, Hinata's cousin was still side by side with Pineapple head, Sasuke lingered behind the two with his hands in his pockets, and Naruto, who turned around slightly to look back at Tenten, smiled, as if apologizing for the awkwardness and mystery of the conversation. He then turned around and quickened his pace to catch up to his other three friends.

Tenten stood still, registering what just happened while subconsciously thumping her thumb on her notebook. _'God damnit, I had him right where I wanted him! He was about to say something and then- spikey had to butt in.'_ She was glad at herself for managing to get the reactions she needed out of them, which told her what she assumed wasn't false. But now it looked as if her being on his team was impossible. They were aware of her now, and she couldn't stay low anymore. They knew that she knew and they had a lot on the line. Drifting was illegal, they were all in high school still, and unbeknownst to Tenten there were other reasons the group of guys had rights to be concerned with what she now knew. Her plan didn't go as expected…not that she honestly expected them to let her in their group openly. But the piece of information she knew, would prove to work to her advantage as she held the truth over Hinata's cousin's head. She wasn't going to blackmail him, but…

A smirk slowly formed on Tenten's face.

She knew that the curiosity of how she had found out, would eat them all alive, especially the long haired one. And she knew, it was only a matter of time before he confronted her on his on terms, wanting to know how she knew what he was involved in.

Tenten started walking towards to glass front doors and nodded to herself while still smirking.

This plan was getting even better than she originally thought.

"So you do know her. How did she know we drift, Neji?"

Technically it wasn't them that she was talking about. Tenten stood in front of him, as if knowing he was the one in charge. She spoke to him directly. No one at school was aware that Neji, Sasuke, Naruto, and Shikamaru were involved in street racing, specifically drifting. The overall student population was unaware of what that word even meant. They were aware of who Neji was, the power that his clan had. The power behind his clan and what power he possessed himself. But that girl? That…..strategic, analytical female wasn't aware.

Neji glared at Tenten from across the classroom. Her back was turned to him as she carried a conversation with his cousin. His glare lingered on Tenten before it swiftly shifted it to Shikamaru. Even if she did know who he was, she still wouldn't give a damn what he was capable of. His gut told him she wasn't intimidated by him.

"I've only seen her yesterday, I don't know how she figured it out."

"Maybe Hinata told her." Sasuke met Neji's glare head on and stared right back at him with an emotionless expression. "You do have that race against Dachi coming up in a few days. She might have invited her."

Neji glanced at Tenten one last time while deliberating what Sasuke said. It wasn't like Hinata to just make new friends so instantaneously. He noticed how Tenten gravitated to his cousin yesterday, but didn't think much about it. Hinata was too shy to bring up something that heavy to her. She couldn't have tipped her off. She knew better.

"Nah, Hina-chan wouldn't have mentioned that to her! She barely knows Tenten, and besides, she did say she saw the damage first hand." Naruto butted in looking between Shikamaru and Sasuke. He sat directly behind Neji and leaned in when he spoke. Neji's eyes turned to Naruto and he paused.

That was true, she did say that.

"Either way, she knows. So what are we going to do about it?" Shikamaru mumbled as he lazily shot a glance in Neji's direction. He had several hours of sleep in the early morning due to an argument with his girlfriend. Something about cotton candy. It was dumb and a waste of time but he dealt with it because he loved her. As a result, she managed to suck 6 hours of sleep out of him leaving him only with 3 to use. Women could be such troublesome creatures sometimes.

He watched as Neji glared at no one in particular while collecting his thoughts. Seconds later he looked back to him and his eyes narrowed.

"I will make sure her mouth stays shut about what she knows. How she found out is the least of my issue, but what she will do with that information is the biggest. I will shut her up."

The three guys let the conversation die, and returned their attention to the board at the front of the class, where the Calculus professor was calling out formulas for an upcoming quiz. Neji usually never confronted anyone at school, mostly just in the streets. But this girl, was making him change his whole system of how he operated with people and interacted with them. This girl was making him come to her head on. And he hoped she was ready for hell to knock on her door.-

Neji wrote down several formulas from the board. But in this case, hell was going to knock down her door. Heaven had better be ready

Tenten laughed and finsished eating her fruit cup while sitting down on a bench in at a table in the courtyard. Hinata took a moment to study her and smiled softly as she did. Tenten wasn't like Ino and Sakura; loud at times, fashionable, and dainty. She was her own person with a slight temper, humor, and pure honesty. She had found her to be refreshing and someone who could listen to her openly and understood her. Ino and Sakura she can as well, but they tended to pair off seeing as how they had a lot in common. Tenten was a nice addition to their group; she seemed to be the missing puzzle they hadn't realized they needed. She laughed inwardly at the thought of Tenten having a temper and instantly thought of her cousin, Neji. He also had one, from as far back as she could remember. These days he did his best to control it, but at several drifting competitions she witnessed him loose control. It was then she knew never to be on his bad side.

Hinata turned to her side as she heard voices growing louder.

"I don't know what he was thinking. I swear men don't think." Sakura was chuckling as she listened to Ino and sat beside Tenten at the table. Ino took a seat beside Hinata and continued her rant, now including the two girls at the table.

"I told him to get me pink cotton candy, not mint chocolate! You would think after 8 months of dating that wax eared filled pineapple head would know what I like! But noooo." Sakura rose an eyebrow at Ino and shook her head. Hinata managed to giggle as she covered her mouth and Ino slipped her a miniature sideways glare. Tenten smirked and laughed while looking in Ino's direction as well but then gazed at Sakura.

"Ino, give him a break. Shikamaru has been going through a lot, and dealing with you has been like dealing with a rabies infested fluffy bunny."

"FOREHEAD!" Tenten and Hinata laughed loudly as Sakura shrugged her shoulders at Ino.

"What? Okay, a pink fluffy rabies infested bunny." She laughed at Ino who still glared at her

"He's always had things to deal with, and I make it easier for him! Being a part of his life!"

Sakura snorted while opening her salad bowl container and mumbled under her breath, "If you say so..."

Ino rolled her eyes and looked past Sakura's head to her boyfriend and his other three friends. The group of guys and group of girls usually kept to themselves during the school day. Senior year was busier than the previous ones and required more physical attention. She remembered back when they all would hang around their lockers, and meet up after class. She and Sakura attended most competitions their boyfriends went to or drove in. Hinata seldom came because Neji didn't want her to be exposed to that lifestyle. If you ask her he was very overprotective. Speaking of the devil….her eyes grew wide and she started to get the other girls attention.

"Hey um, guys?" All girls looked in Ino's direction. "Why is Neji staring daggers over here…again?" They all looked over to see him eyeing the table with an emotionless glare as the other three guys at the table ate and spoke to each other.

"No…he's not staring at us." Sakura spoke and turned back around on the bench to look at Tenten. "It's only you he's staring at, Tenten."

Tenten felt six eyes glued to her face. She started stabbing the cold slice of turkey meat on her plate with a fork and avoided their stares.

"Oh?" She pretended to ask sarcastically.

"Yes! What the hell did you do? Did you tell him what you said to us yesterday, because I told you he would give you hell for that!" Tenten snorted and looked up.

"No, I didn't." Ino and Sakura let out a sigh and continued to eat their food. Hinata glanced over at her cousin again with slight curiosity.

Once all was back to normal, Tenten decided to finish the sentence.

"I told him I knew he drifts, and I wanted to be a part of his group." Tenten watched as Hinata's eyes grew wide and she stared at her. Ino almost choked on a potato chip and her wide eyes stared at her as well. Sakura, like de JA vu, spat out the water in her mouth to the side of her. The side Tenten wasn't on.

Silence surrounded the four girls for nearly a minute, and then Ino mumbled in Japanese something to Sakura, who leaned forward and responded in Japanese. Hinata then said something as well and Tenten grew upset.

"Hey, don't talk around me in Japanese like I'm not here! If you have something to say then say it!" The three girls started at Tenten; Hinata making a mental note of Tenten's quick temper flare.

"Sorry Ten," Ino smiled sadly at her and ignored her temper outburst.

"We can't really talk to you about…. that." Sakura said referring to drifting, while putting down her water bottle on the table.

"H-how did you e-even know N-Neji drifted?" Hinata's voice was gentle but laced with curiosity.

"I saw the damage he'd done first hand while drifting, or attempting to I should say. If he really was doing it right, then he wouldn't have left any marks or scrapes on anything, right?" Tenten stated rhetorically while looking up at the group of girls. Ino swallowed and didn't answer and Sakura started eating her food again as if Tenten never said anything. Hinata kept her gaze on Tenten and started thinking.

When could Neji have been so careless? And how did she even know because Neji hadn't raced since last Thursday close to midnight. She had been sick that week, but managed to go to the race. When Neji came back to the lot where they had all waited for him, the side of his Mustang was scratched up pretty badly, but that was probably just from the other two cars he was racing against. Tenten just came Monday, so it was practically impossible for her to know. And to be so vocal to them about it. Hinata began to grow slightly worried. Was Tenten going to hold this information over Neji's head? Over all their heads? Neji, Naruto, Sasuke and Shikamaru all had a lot to lose if anyone ever connected drifting to them, Neji especially.

He was an heir to her father's corporate position. He oversaw the expansions of the various properties he invested in or owned such as five star hotels, restaurants, clubs, and stocks. Hiashi was a well renowned business man acknowledged popularly throughout Japan. Neji was following in his footsteps working under him and learning his trade. At the end pf this school year, he even aligned the rest of Neji's steps for his future through connections he had made overtime. If Hiashi found out that Neji was engaging in this illegal activity he would completely disown him, all to keep the family name from being tainted. Neji and Hiashi were actually not close and she could see he only tolerated her father because of respect. If Neji were to have his way completely she knows he would leave them and not look back. Hiashi trusted Neji to an extent and for the most part didn't care what he did as long as he didn't end up in the news, arrested, failing school, or engaging in illegal activities. Shikamaru would have his chances at University shot, while Sasuke would be the least affected if word ever got out. His parents died when he was younger so his older brother practically raise him on his own. They lived in an apartment together until about 2 years ago. Itatchi disappeared and still hasn't been found since. Sasuke assumed a local gang had something to do with his disappearance, so he joined Neji's group to be closer to the local gang. The local gang was small, and their leader was the number one drifting king in Tokyo. He had been to several of his brother's races before, and knew he was a part of the gang, so when they denied knowing of Itatchi he sought out to find him ever since. Two years later he still lives at the apartment and is still searching for him. Sightings of Itatchi have surfaced but none ever proved accurate. Drifting was a way for him to be as close to his brother as possible, and the adrenaline rush was just a bonus. Naruto was planning to join a soccer league after high school at University in hopes of playing for the National Japanese team. He felt traveling would also be a good experience so he decided not to limit himself to just one team. With all the guys being 18, it was EXTRA illegal for them to be drifting. If Naruto or any one of them were to be caught, it would be the end of their futures. Drifting had its weight. If you were caught. Maybe Tenten didn't realize the power she held in ruining alll their lives, but they knew.

"Wait, you said join the group?" Ino asked after realizing what Tenten said

"Yeah I want to. Don't see why I can't." She eyed Ino with a low haze, drinking from her water bottle. Ino held her gaze for a second then looked back down at the potato bag in her hand, and shook her head as she took a chip from the bag.

"That's impossible. _We_ can't even be on their team." Ino referred to her, Sakura, and Hinata.

"Not that we even wanted to. Drifting is way more dangerous than fun." Sakura said not looking at Tenten but her food instead.

Tenten smirked inwardly but outwardly kept a blank face plastered on. She lived for danger; what others labeled danger she labeled as fun, exciting, riveting. Drifting was what she wanted to do and she wasn't going to give up.

"Well, I want to. And nothing is impossible. If anything was, then the word wouldn't have possible attached to it." Ino looked back up at Tenten and smirked. Sakura chuckled and Hinata glanced at Neji once again. His face was turned towards Sasuke. Now that she knew why he was staring in their direction, she knew that he already had a plan for how to handle Tenten.

Hinata glanced back at Tenten who was smiling at Ino. She hoped Tenten knew exactly what she had just put herself into. Hoped she was prepared for what Neji was going to bring her way.

"Good luck Tenten-chan." Hinata spoke softly it almost missed Tenten's ears. She looked at Hinata and smiled genuinely.

"Thanks Hinata.."

"Well just don't be a dumb ass and blurt it around school."

"I won't."

Sakura smiled coyly and glanced at Tenten then Ino. "She's a lot more calculating than she leads on pig face. I don't think she was ever going to snitch. She realized we knew the guys well enough and when you mentioned Shikamaru, and Hinata, Neji's cousin, she assumed we were aware of what they were involved in."

Tenten felt heat rising to her cheeks as she quickly looked down at her plate and swore inwardly. Sakura did have a brain underneath all that pink hair. She thought it was just cheers and pop music in her brain, but she did vaguely remember Hinata telling her that Sakura was going to University to study Chemistry. She was blushing from how quickly Sakura had paid close attention to her.

Ino looked wide eye at Tenten and smiled. "Very clever Tenten. That sounds like something I would have calculated. And I'm sure you won't stop until you get what you want."

Tenten turned around to glance at Neji who ironically turned away from Sasuke and met her glaze at the same time. A smirk grew across her face as his eyes narrowed. "And I know exactly how to get it." She stated simply as she turned back around smiling. Sakura smiled back and decided to change the topic of discussion; each girl participating in it openly.

* * *

It was the last period of the day and for Tenten, it was study hall, which meant she had a free period. Ignoring the bell in the background, Tenten wasn't worried about being late to the classroom; seeing as how it wasn't a crime being late for it. She was having a conversation with Kiba while standing in the middle of the hallway oblivious to her surroundings, when she felt a tug on her forearm and suddenly realized she was being dragged away from a growing smaller Kiba.

"Hey! What gives!?"

"Excuse us." Neji mumbled coldly as he kept looking straight ahead, not making eye contact with Kiba or Tenten. Tenten's face began to match the bubbling temper rising inside her. She managed to stumble alongside of Neji who was walking with immense speed. Once finally at a small janitor's closet, he shoved her inside and walked in after her. Closing the door and turning on the light switch behind him. The light showed on their faces and revealed a mildly concerned Tenten and an irritated Neji, both looking at one another.

"What the hell is your problem?! You can't just go around grabbing people like that out of nowhere!"

Neji watched as Tenten raised her voice at him with growing anger. He stood still, eyes low, gazing down at Tenten emotionlessly with his hands in his pockets. He looked so unbothered it made Tenten even more upset.

"I don't know what your deal is, but you're one rude, arrogant, son of a-

"You will come to learn I do as I please to whomever I choose."

Tenten squinted her eyes and parted her mouth open slightly at Neji, like that was the stupidest comment she'd heard.

"What do you even mean by that?! Do what to who!" Tenten leaned forward and stood on her tippy toes to close some distance between them. She rose her hand to point at his face when instantly Neji caught her wrist centimeters before it even reached it.

"I have no idea who you are, or who you're working for, but I swear to you I will make your life worse than hell." Tenten stared back at Neji in shock, still shook at how fast her caught her wrist. It was like he predicted she was about to do it

Neji leaned downwards to close even more distance between them, making sure his eyes were leveled with hers. "Your intentions to blackmail me will fall short because I am not giving you anything. What I do know is that you should-

"Blackmail..?" Tenten registered what he said and Neji leaned back slightly to get a better look at her as she gathered her thoughts out loud.

"I wasn't going to blackmail you," She said while yanking her wrist from his grip. Iron grip of steel; his personality really did match his skin temperature. "I said I wanted in! Wanted to be a team member on your street racing crew! I work for no one!"

"Hn." Neji glared back at her. His look full of disbelief.

"Honestly! Who would I work for when I just moved here last weekend? Maybe I found out what you do because you left a trail of evidence that traveled my way! You should seriously consider practicing more."

"…left a trail..?" Neji's glare softened slightly while he processed what Tenten was saying.

She leaned back off her tippy toes and folded her arms across her chest, eyes never leaving his. Despite how he now was staring at the ground below him.

"Yes. You should drive in a more deserted location next time."

Neji paused. Deserted location?...his back stiffened as he recalled the incident last Thursday when he grazed the side of his mustang against the front of a Mercedes coupe. His window was down because the AC wasn't working and it grew stuffy inside as the night grew older. He remembered locking eyes with the driver' his blood shot red eyes wide with shock and disbelief. That was the first mistake he had made in a long time, not since the previous year when he got into an accident on the highway. He almost shook his head and smirked when his eyes narrowed instead and he looked back up to meet Tenten's glare.

"Was he your father?"

Tenten's eyebrows drew together in slight confusion as a perplexed look crossed her features. Once understanding who Neji was referring to, she shook her head.

"No, he wasn't."

"Then how'd you know about that."

"Why should I tell you everything? You now know how I found out. Isn't that enough?"

"Because you want what I've got. A spot on my team. And no, it isn't enough."

Her eyes narrowed more. "What will it take for me to be on your team?"

"Why do you want to be on it so bad?"

Tenten took her time thinking and dropped her hard demeanor as she spoke.

"I don't know, I've never seen any of you guys race before, so it's not that I want to be on your team in particular. It's just that…I'm not sure. I've never experienced this sensation before, the adrenaline rush, the danger, it all is so inviting."

Neji smirked for the first time at her and it took her by surprise. He looked like a jerk still, but at least it was a change of behavior from the last day.

"Hn." He stood still briefly before turning around and placing his hand on the doorknob to leave, when he stopped as Tenten spoke.

"Does this mean I'm in now?" She heard a short, smooth baritone laugh. It sounded like a tone she had never heard before because it sounded so perfect, like it came from a Greek god. It couldn't have belonged to Neji.

He turned his head over his shoulder to look at her; a ghost of a smirk was there.

"No." he turned back around and started heading out the door.

Tenten felt her heart start to race. If she'd let him walk out that door, chances are she wouldn't ever get another chance like this to confront him about being on his team, or racing. Once she found out that Neji drifted, she had never felt more intrigued about anything else before and made it her mission. She had to say something, anything to get his attention. Was she going to let it slip from her grasp when it was right there before her, or take charge of the bumpy, one sided- well, one answer conversation. She wasn't going to let a no stop her, and she knew she had to try harder.

"I'll race you!" She blurted out before realizing what she just said.

"What?" Neji froze and turned around to fully face her.

 _'omfg, not that hard! What the hell did I just say_?!' Tenten slowly met Neji's eyes which were slightly wide with shock but mostly in interest. She wanted to smirk inwardly at getting a reaction from him, but she didn't. She did roll her eyes inwardly while swallowing the huge lump stuck in her throat.

 _'Diarrhea of the mouth! Ni gen duoshao, Ni gen duoshao Tenten!'_

"You heard me."

"You do know what you just asked me right?" He spoke fluidly with less frost in his voice.

"Yes."

"And you know how to race."

"Yes." Nope.

"So you know how to drift then."

"Yes." Hell to the nope.

"Hn."

Seeing the hesitation in his face as he thought, she decided to raise the stakes. Heaven needed to triumph.

"If I race you and beat you, then I get to be a member on your team. If I don't, then you never have to hear from me or about me again. Ever." Once Neji met her eyes again she knew it was a wrap. There was no backing out now.

"Alright."

Tenten smirked but then felt her face slip. She should be happy, right? Nope. She was silently panicking inside. She didn't know how to drift; let alone even race! And just as worry swarm in, confidence and she knew she'd be able to pull this off. She'd gotten herself into a lot of things and always managed to pull through. This time would be no different. Her smirk fully formed as she held out her hand, waiting for Neji to shake it.

"Deal?" He eyed her hand for a few seconds before taking it in his masculine, large stiff hand.

"Deal." He smirked back at her and let go of her hand then stalked off down the hallway; going the opposite way he came from.

Tenten marveled at herself and let out a huge sigh while shaking her head at herself. Wondering how deep in hell she'd just got in.

* * *

xoxox JadexandxDiamonds out!

Chapter three will be posted this Friday! Thanks for Reading! Review and feel free to ask any questions ;)

See you soon


	3. In or Out

It continues, lol. I'm still writing don't worry nothing has changed. I work full time, paint, and do other stuff so I have been pretty busy but this story is my baby. No way I can just abort it! Anyways, this chapter is very long, and you all will love it!

xoxoxox

* * *

 **Tuesday**

 **(Evening)**

Neji sat in a cushioned black office chair evaluating all that took place earlier that day. His conversation with Tenten specifically. She was rather different from how he predicted her to be. Skin more toned tan than he saw from afar; up close she was attractive. Her full, plush lips stuck out a lot in their conversation in an almost pout gesture. Her cheeks would have been the center of attention but his eyes gravitated to hers. The color of a tranflorecent light brown; hazel. Her frame was slightly muscular: arms, legs. But overall she was petite and stopped at 5'4. He would have never guessed her hair was that long. Subconsciously he found himself being drawn into her features. She was interesting both physically and characteristically.

 _'Characteristically…'_ Neji sighed out loud at that thought and leaned back into the cushioned chair until he felt the leather against him. He looked up from the semi long dark wooden table in front of him. He was currently in a small, cubed like room. There were no windows on any of the four walls. The wall behind him was built with bookshelves that were ceiling height. Every other shelf had a row of books while the empty ones were vacant. Giving an illusion of more space and less clutter. His office chair and desk sat in the middle of the room, and across from him was the door. The side walls were half the size of the bookshelf wall. In a nutshell, all that was in there was a file cabinet against the left side of him, his table, chair, and bookshelves.

Characteristically, Tenten was a new game he'd never played before. Her personality made him constantly evaluate his moves and actually strategize ways to counter her. That was new to him in the sense it was a female this time. Having to stay on his toes. He noticed her slip of temper control when her Chinese accent wrapped itself around the words she was yelling to him in English. It made her that much more interesting. He would have to keep an eye on her. He wanted to know more about her, from her, of her. He found her to be quite…..refreshing. Different.

"Neji what'd you want us here for." Neji looked up to see Shikamaru standing before him with hands in his pocket. He was so engulfed in his thoughts he hadn't noticed the door open. Sasuke leaned against the door frame with his arms folded over his chest, and Naruto stood to Sasuke's right stretching his arms towards the ceiling while yawning.

The guys had come up from the metal staircase that connected the ground garage floor to the only high story room. The garage was very spacious and held all the cars the group used in races. To the left side of the garage were 6 parked cars, all various brands, colors, and styles. To the right of the garage was a sitting area with a 4 sofas arranged to create a square. The furniture wasn't top of the line, neither was the shaggy area rug that paid underneath the sofas. There was a small fridge located just shy of one of the sofas, and a small bathroom towards the far back wall of the sitting area. At the front of the garage were 3 large garage doors that that automatically drew up and down. The garage didn't hold anything of value other than the vehicles themselves.

Neji stood up and walked around the side of the table to sit the edge of it folding his arms across his chest.

"I talked to Tenten earlier today." The three guy's rose an eyebrow but Naruto voiced his usual unneeded opinion.

"The girl from our Calculus class? Oh yeah, she did stop us this morning didn't she."

"What'd she say?" Sasuke ignored Naruto.

"…She wants to race me. To be a member on this team."

"Shut up, seriously?!"

"What the hell?" Sasuke spoke to Neji's statement. That girl had to be either crazy as hell or stupid as hell.

"Wait, she wants to race you….you. She's absurd." Neji smirked at Shikamaru. Neji had drifted for nearly 3 years and has won 67 races while only loosing 1. His record was impeccable and he was known for his wins, his style; he was the champion. Or rather he will be the top once he beats the reigning challenger of 10 years.

"If she beats me, then she will have a place with us. This is a race destined to show her she's in way over her head and doesn't know who she's messing with." Neji shifted his gaze to each of the guys.

"To see the look on her face when she sees me win will be priceless." Sasuke smirked and Naruto laughed but Shikamaru wasn't too happy. He was the analytical one of the group and advised Neji a lot of times which options were most efficient. He was really the brain behind the group. Neji could think for his own obviously and had his own way of doing things, but when it came to deciphering logical strategies, Shikamaru was the helpful genius. And not just with Neji but Sasuke as well. Naruto was always ignoring Shikamaru's advice so he stopped giving it to him. Shikamaru was going to University to be an engineer in technology and a software developer. He took care of installing and monitoring their security cameras around the garage and hacked into anything to get the information his team needed.

Shikamaru covered Neji's blind spot.

"I don't know, I still don't trust her. How did she find out about this?"

"Remember the race last week, and how my car was scratched up badly? I told you guys I clipped a Mercedes coup. Well apparently she caught wind of that accident."

"So it was her father in the car?" Naruto commented and Neji looked at him.

"No, she actually stopped going into detail once she gave me the minimal information I needed."

"Hn.." Sasuke thought it was still odd that she knew about them drifting when she hadn't even see them drift. Let alone Tenten was new, so it bothered him how she came across this information.

"Still sounds suspicious. What if she was sent by _**them**_ , in order to gather Intel from us?" All their faces darkened when Shikamaru spoke.

"It's hard to say if she was."

"Neji this is a big deal." Shikamaru mumbled while scratching the back of his head.

"You invited her to race you and we still don't know if we can trust her. Why did you accept the race?" Shikamaru wearily rubbed his closed eyelids in tiredness and sighed. At times Neji completely took him through a loop. He didn't understand what he was trying to achieve at times.

"To be candid, to see what she's got. That and to invite her to the race on Saturday. They will be back then and since I'm competing against you know who, she and them can meet up. Depending on how they interact will determine if she knows them or not."

Naruto slowly smiled and Sasuke pondered slightly before shrugging his shoulders and nodding his head. Shikamaru was still abstract in thought. All of their asses were on the line despite Neji being the only one racing Tenten. But his plan was valid and had the potential of really working. It really was a big step taking a chance and letting her race him. It wasn't like she would see their garage, but she did just come out of thin air and he didn't know how well she raced.

Sasuke was the first to move after nearly a minute of silence. "Do we all agree on the plan then?" It was the only one made, but they all knew that before one was carried out, 3 out of 4 of them had to agree to it.

"Sounds good enough to me." Naruto inputted before looking at Shikamaru.

"Yeah, alright. That's all we've got for now until we can come up with a better one I guess." He lazily looked at Neji and gave a single nod.

"So it's settled then. Whatever comes of the race tomorrow means nothing, but the true outcome will be evaluated after Saturday night." They all nodded in unison and filed out the small room, leaving Neji sitting in his thoughts.

* * *

It was the next day, Wednesday afternoon and school had just let out. Hinata was scrunched down on a hallway floor putting textbooks inside her bottom locker and gathering supplies to put inside her book bag.

"Hinata."

"N-Neji!" She stood up quickly with a surprised looked on her face. Neji rarely approached her in school unless there was a specific reason.

"I need you to do me a favor." She stood still while still staring at Neji until she saw his right hand pull from behind his back pants pocket a folded sheet of paper. She studied the folded sheet in his hands before looking back up to meet his low gaze.

"I need you to give this to Tenten when you see her." He held out the piece of paper until Hinata grabbed it with hesitation.

"W-what is it for?" She looked back up at Neji from the paper in her hand and he gave her a stiff short nod. Opening the slip of paper she studied the scribbled handwriting before widening her eyes. It was the address of Neji's race tomorrow. She flipped the sheet over and gasped. Akiro Shitsgustu was printed on the bottom left corner. Akiro was the guy who was the look out while also controlling who was let into the parking area for the races. Most times the location of a race was different but during huge, popular races the setting tended to be the same. At huge tournaments the cars entering whether viewers or riders were charged a fee. But With a handwritten letter from a Hyuga to Akiro, anyone could bypass those fees. Plus, it indicated to him who he would automatically let through for any race in the future.

"W-w-why are y-you giving this t-to Tenten?" Neji remained silent seconds after Hinata was searching his eyes for an answer.

"She wants to race me. Now she knows where to find me." He glared at her.

"Tell her to be there by 10. No later." Neji turned his back to her but paused as he heard her soft voice travel to his ears.

"Will you b-be joining Hinabi a-and I for dinner tonight?" Hiashi was out of town and wouldn't be back until late Saturday night. He usually didn't attend the dinner unless Hiahsi was there, seeing as how he forced them all to eat together.

"No, I have practice." Neji started walking away when he heard her small sigh. A tiny smile came to his face and he mumbled lowly so Hinata was able to hear him.

"But save me a plate Hinata and I will eat when I get back." He didn't bother to turn around and fully stocked off leaving a slightly smiling Hinata standing beside her open locker. She glanced down at her hand and quickly scrambled to finish with her locker.

 **10 Minutes Later**

At the school gymnasium, Tenten sat across the first row bleachers leaning back while resting her elbows against the edge of two bleacher seats behind her. She had stayed at the school to watch Ino and Sakura cheer while waiting for 5 o clock to come for volleyball practice. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a small framed blue haired girl fast walking onto the gym and approaching her.

"Hinata? Why are you still here?" When Hinata had made it to several feet infront of Tenten she panted slightly and gathered her breath before answering her.

"H-Here.." She handed Tenten the slip of paper Neji handed her. Tenten took it, opened it and gave a puzzled look.

"Hinata it's nothing but an address."

"I-I know, Neji ni san told me to give it t-to you."

She blinked at the paper then blinked up at Hinata. "What for?"

"It's the address f-for where to r-race him at. H-he said to be there n-no later than 10. W-why do you want t-to race-"

"HINATA!" Ino tackled an unsuspected Hinata from behind and gave her a tight hug. Sakura soon made her way to the girls and stood by with her hands on her hips.

"Ino if we don't get these stunts down now, we won't-"

"Forehead calm down, we should take a quick break." Ino let go of Hinata and sat down beside Tenten while reaching for a water bottle in her bag. Hinata stood infront of her and Sakura to her side.

"What's going on?"

Hinata's demeanor changed as she stifled a glare at Tenten. It was a snowflake compared to the blizzard of the century ice glare Neji gave.

"T-Tenten wants to race N-Neji." Tenten, Ino, and Sakura all stared wide eyed at Hinata.

"What?!"

Tenten closed her eyes and inwardly sighed.

"What the hell Tenten! This is your third day here and already you're making deals with the damn devil!"

"Wait, when did this happen?" Sakura shifted her gaze away from Ino and back to Tenten.

"Yesterday, in a janitor's closet Neji pulled me into." She stated casually at two gawking girls and one irritated girl.

"Neji did what?" Ino chirped.

"That doesn't sound like him."

"Well he tried to intimidate me into revealing to him how I knew he raced. I countered and told him if I race him and win I get a place on his team."

"And what's the deal if you lose Tenten." Sakura still had her hands on her hips and Tenten slipped her a small glare.

"I won't. I will win."

"Well if I had your confidence id take over half of the damn world with ease." Ino mumbled with a smirk and Sakura snorted.

"D-Do you even k-know h-how to race, Tenten?"

Tenten pretended to look around the gymnasium and avoid Hinata's question and stare.

"You can't be serious."

"Oh….my….gosh.." Ino stared wide eyed at Tenten. "I can't believe this! You went along making this deal and YOU CAN'T EVEN RACE?!"

"I didn't say I couldn't race….I have raced before.."

All three girls gave Tenten a non-believing glare.

"I have!"

"When Tenten."

"…last month…while playing a video game.." Ino dramatically threw her hands up in the air, Sakura slapped her forehead and Hinata sighed nervously.

"T-Tenten t-this is s-serious! W-we have to t-tell N-Neji-

"NO! You guys can't say anything!"

"Tenten what is more important your life or some stupid race!"

"….the race?" She nervously laughed and scratched the back of her head. Sakura shook her head.

"Whether you go or whether you don't go and tell Neji you can't race, you're still dead."

"So….Y-you're s-still going to r-race him?"

Tenten sighed. "I have to, I can't describe why but it's just something I have to do. And I will be fine. How hard can racing be?"

Ino and Sakura exchanged glances while Hinata drew an eyebrow up at Tenten.

"Tenten street racing is one thing, but drifting is another. It takes a while for you to learn that technique."

"Yeah well I have a day, so any tips you guys can give me would be great."

"Ino and I will be at the race tomorrow so we can help you for a while before the race starts."

Tenten turned to look at Hinata. "You're not coming?"

"N-no, N-Neji doesn't want me t-to.."

"Overprotective bastard.." Sakura elbowed Ino in the rib cage and she sighed dramatically.

"What?! It's the truth!"

"I-it's fine anyway, I have a-a lot of h-homework to catch u-up o-on since I was o-out all last w-week."

"Okay, well….I won't die Hinata. I'll make sure you hear good things about my race from me." She emphasized and slipped Ino and Sakura a glare.

"Whatever Tennie, Ino and I will just prepare your casket." Sakura turned and walked back towards the center of the gymnasium. Ino trailed after her but turned her head back to Tenten and Hinata.

"You want white roses or black ones at your funeral?" Sakura turned to Ino and Ino turned to Sakura; both laughing. Tenten glared at the back of their heads.

"Very funny."

"J-Just please be careful Tenten.."

Tenten forgot Hinata was even beside her, the way she was so quiet. She smiled softly at her.

"I will….promise."

* * *

 **Thursday**

 **(Night)**

Tenten stared at herself in her bedroom mirror one last time while stroking her deep brown, wavy locks. She was unsure if she should braid it into one single long braid or wear her signature buns. She glanced down at her outfit then trailed back up at her hair. Maybe a braid just in case she wanted to wear a helmet.

Kami, she'll need one the way she'll be driving. Tenten sighed and shook her head while thinking. What was she doing? Less than a week at this new school and already she threw herself into a world where limits don't exist. This had to be her most drastic attempt at obtaining an adrenaline rush ever.

She reached in a small box and pulled out a black hair tie with one hand, while holding the end of her braided hair.

Was it even about an adrenaline rush or proving herself? When she set her mind on doing something, failure wasn't an option. Somewhere deep inside her, she wondered if a part of her was really doing this because her mom was dead. If she raced, then maybe her mom would find out and burst through her bedroom door yelling at her like she was crazy for doing such a dangerous stunt.

Tenten subconsciously glanced over at the closed bedroom door for a split second before looking back at herself in the mirror and analyzing her work. There were several curly strands left out around her ears, creating a subtle yet natural look. She looked nice while still being her tomboy self. Tenten glanced at a small clock above her bed and cursed.

 **9:24pm**

She grabbed her car keys off her bed and dashed out her bedroom making her run down the stairs. Her dad was still at his auto body shop and wouldn't be back until 6 the next morning. Despite Tenten being present in the home, he still didn't really change his habits or schedule to suit their relationship.

She shut the front door, locked it, and dashed to her parked mustang. She had literally no time to spare since the address Hinata gave her was 30 minutes away.

…the address

"SHIT!" Tenten ran back to the front door and unlocked it. The paper with the address was upstairs in her room on top of her dresser. By the time she made it into her car and pulled out of the narrow driveway, it was 9:31pm. She was definitely not going to be there by 10.

...

Tenten eyed her surroundings in pure amazement. The loud booming Japanese music echoed throughout the entire parking garage. It was a vacant parking garage located slightly outside of Tokyo and had seven levels. The windows in her car were down as she approached Akito. He was standing in front of the yellow wooden blocker that automatically let up and down. However Tenten eyed Akito's hand as he manually allowed each car to pass through once he spoke with them. She pulled up beside him slowly as he spoke to her in Japanese. She simply passed him the paper Hinata gave her and waited for his response.

Akito flipped the paper over and his eyes grew wide. He looked down at Tenten then back at the paper. Automatically he let the yellow bar up and gestured her to go forward without saying another word. She shrugged her shoulders and sped forward. Tenten mentally swore to herself. She wasn't sure which way or which level to even go onto so she stayed close behind a small cubed car in front of her. There were no cars on the first level, or second, but as she drove up onto the third level she felt her mouth fall open.

It was seriously another world.

There were hundreds of people present. Varying from age to ethnicities to even hair colors and styles. People were venturing everywhere throughout the not so large parking level. Some were walking around eyeing open trunks and hoods of cars, while others were gathered in groups talking or dancing. The music was extremely loud, but almost low in comparison to everyone's voices, she noted as she slowly drove through the crowds peering from her open windows. Tenten drove slowly taking everything in while pulling into a vacant spot towards the back of the garage. After parking her car and getting out, she locked it and dropped the keys in her back pocket. Her small wallet was hidden underneath the passenger's seat in her car.

She would be lying if she said she wasn't nervous. The hundreds of people came to watch a race between her and Neji. She had a lot to prove to her new group of friend and semi enemy, but to a group of hundreds of Japanese people as well? That was different.

Tenten weaved her way in and out of different groups of people until she stood still in an opened pocket. Just as she was about to start walking again, a tall slender older woman dressed in a a short patent leather ice blue skirt, Thigh high matching heels, and a matching open short sleeve, miniature jacket, that exposed her crystal embezzled bra underneath, made her pause. She had her long, violet hair up high in two pigtails, and glanced over at Tenten as she walked by. She blew a huge bubble with her gum and popped it, then looked back in front of her and made her way into another small crowd.

Tenten blinked wondering what exactly she got herself into.

"TENTEN!" Tenten quickly whipped her head around to the sound of the voice but grew confused when she didn't see anyone she knew. Just heads of strangers. She rolled her eyes, annoyed, wishing she would have gotten Ino or Sakura's number-

"Tenten! There you are!"

Tenten turned around again, having completed a full circle, and smiled with happiness. Talk about a life saver! And perfect timing too. Seeing Ino made Tenten feel at ease, at least for a moment. Ino smiled as she approached Tenten and grabbed her hand.

"Come on, the race is about to start!" She called over the noise, tugging on her hand as she turned to walk forward again.

"Ino what the hell do you have on?" Ino stopped walking to look down at her outfit. She was wearing a short black flared skirt, with a simple black bralette and an oversized black baseball jacket with TOKYO in white on the back and Tokyo in Kanji (Japanese writing) on the front but it was divided where the jacket opening was. Tenten eyed Ino's pierced ears too. Had she always had a spike in her left cartilage?

"Oh, this? I was going for a relaxed look tonight. This is nothing compared to how I usually dress." Ino smiled and eyed Tenten.

"Looking pretty tomboyish Tennie." Now it was Tenten's turn to look down at herself. She had on a simple pair of army colored cargo, baggy pants that slung off her hips slightly and revealed the top black band on her underwear labeled PINK. On top she wore a black mid drift v neck crop. No jewelry was on her, and her braid staid still along her backside. She rose an eyebrow at Ino.

"It's my style."

"I know, I know. Now come ON!" She pulled Tenten through more crowds of people for what felt like years, but stopped once they were in front of the cleared pathway. It was the track they were going to race on soon and Tenten couldn't help but feel worried again.

"Tenten!" Sakura came to her and hugged her tightly but let go before she had a word to say.

"Sakura….you look….."

"Great?! Why thank you Tennie!" She smirked at her and spun around while Tenten shook her head and laughed. Despite the mini pink patent leather skirt that matched her hair perfectly and the same colored pastel pink off the shoulders crop top, she looked feminine and pretty. In a way.

"Enough forehead, you don't look that great." Tenten laughed and turned her head to the side to see Ino with Shikamaru's arm wrapped around her neck so his arm rested on her right shoulder. They looked like a nice pair. When Ino's mouth was shut and not talking profusely, her silent demeanor and his laid back personality did make them a perfect match. Since Shikamaru was at least 6ft and Ino was 5'6/ 5'7, his shirt seemed make him look even longer. It was colored blocked with black on top and white at the bottom. He wore a simple pair of black jeans and Nike Free Inneva Woven Mid SP white trainers. They looked like a couple that naturally executed confidence in their appearance but ironically they were just being themselves.

Sakura slipped Ino a mild glare.

"So uh, where's Neji?"

"Oh, he's already in his car about to start racing."

"What? But I thought-

The sound of an engine stopped Tenten from finishing her sentence. It was significantly louder than the rest, and other people turned their heads in its direction. As she followed their gazes to her right, she saw a black mustang grow closer towards her, Ino, Sakura, and Shikamaru. With the pathway still clear, everyone seemed to be either crowded alongside of Tenten, or on the opposite side of the pathway. The group managed to stand in the front row of the crowd. As the Mustang braked, Tenten narrowed her eyes.

Neji..

Said person stopped his car right in front of her, Ino, Sakura, and Shikamaru. She stared at her own reflection in the dark, tinted rolled up window before blinking and turning around to face Ino.

"I thought he and I were racing!" She called over the sound of the engines, music, and talking, despite Ino standing several feet away from her.

Ino looked at Tenten strangely. "Yeah, after this race."

"But he-" Her eyes widened and she looked back at the now rolled down black window only to see Neji himself smirking at her smugly. Tenten felt her face grow red as she grew upset _. 'That son of a bitch! He invited me here to see him before we race! He's trying to intimidate me!'_ Her fists balled up at her sides as she shook slightly fuming. He just wanted to show off what he could do, he really was trying to scare her out of her deal' well their agreement. Like that would ever happen. It would be hell before heaven backed out of something. Hell.

Since the background noises were so loud, Tenten couldn't make out the words leaving Neji's lips. She squinted her eyes in confusion. She was literally steps away from his car, but she had her eyes fixated on him alone, and he on her.

Grove…..

Drove…

"-MOVE! TENTEN MOVE!" Tenten whipped her head back around to Ino once again only to see her over a hundred feet away from where she last stood. Her eyes widened. When had she moved? She eyed the finger Ino was pointing with, then looked in that direction. Turning her head to her right, she saw another sports car sitting diagonally from Neji's mustang. The driver's arm was hanging out of the window and his middle finger was up. Tenten rose her lip in disgust. What was he waiting on? Her?

She paused

He was waiting on her. Everybody was. Glancing down at Neji from the open window, she blushed and turned around completely to stalk off where Ino, Sakura and Shikamaru were. Neji's smirk was the last image in her mind.

"Kami girl what were you thinking! You can't just stand like that blocking people!"

"Yeah, you're lucky all Datchi did was flick you off." Sakura sighed and shook her head.

"Sorry.." Tenten mumbled and looked back up at the sight in front of her. The guy named Datchi was before them, and Neji on the opposite side' out of Tenten's sight. A large crowd formed in a line stood where Tenten was and hundreds of feet in front of her stood another line of people.

All of a sudden the same woman Tenten saw pop her bubblegum at her walked in front of both the cars. Tenten looked around noticing how quiet it was: no music was playing, or people talking, but then looked back at the woman who was speaking.

"ITCHI!"

The woman slipped off her small jacket and tossed it to the left side of her.

Datchi turned his head to look at Neji who eyed the clear garage floor before him and revved his gas pedal more.

"NI!"

The woman reached behind her back and unhooked her crystal bedazzled bra. Tenten felt her eyes widen. The woman held her unstrapped bra high in the air and smirked as several people whistled at her.

"Slut." Sakura mumbled under her breath and Tenten fought a laugh stuck in the back of her throat.

Neji's calm hand gripped the stick in his car. He was relaxed, like always before every race, and felt a slight feeling in his stomach. He'd never gotten it before but why it was present tonight he didn't know. He glanced at Tenten who stared wide eyed at the stripped woman before him and smirked slightly. Maybe the fact that Tenten was here was why he had that feeling. What did people call it again?

Oh, yeah. Impression.

"SAN!"

The woman dropped her bra and the moment it hit the floor, Neji and Datchi sped off. The crowd erupted with noise that shook Tenten to her core.

This was definitely an experience she would never forget.

"Come on! We have to catch them on the seventh floor!" Sakura shouted as she pulled Tenten's wrist in the same direction Ino and Shikamaru were heading. They made it into a narrow elevator with several other Japanese people. Ino smugly blocked random people from getting onboard as the elevator door closed.

"Can we stop on the fifth floor? I kind of want to see him in action.." Tenten admitted to her friends. Ino and Sakura smirked and looked at each other.

"Sure why not."

Seconds later there was a ding and the elevator door opened. Tenten was getting ready to step out when someone pulled her back inside.

"No, no, no, stay in here. Trust me, it's for the best." Tenten raised an eyebrow at Ino but said nothing as she turned back around eyeing a dark empty garage floor. Heedlessly coming from the fourth floor, Neji's black mustang glided up the fifth level ramp and turned a corner in a way that took Tenten's breath away. Datchi was slightly behind him and did the same but in a less graceful way. As they came around full circle through the empty car garage they approached the elevator and shifted gears, allowing their tires to screech and create black smoke. They drifted. Tenten's eyes widened at the sight of the simplicity yet complicity of the technique. Neji shifted around the sharp corner first, and Datchi followed, however was sloppy and drifted wider than Neji, thus using more space.

Ino and Tenten gasped at the closeness of Datchi's car to the entrance of the elevator.

"…I told you.." She whispered in Tenten's ear who only nodded in response once again grateful for Sakura and Ino.

Their elevator reached the seventh floor seconds after leaving the fifth, and just in time too. They all piled off the elevator to make it to the center of the top garage floor. It was open with no roof at the top, peering over the night scene of downtown Tokyo. The parking garage was taller than what it appeared to be on the inside. Tenten gulped as she looked down over the edge of the lot. She was one of the few who stood on the outskirts of the large crowd that waited for Neji and Datchi to return. To be honest, this whole experience was fresh, new for her. She was taking it all in and beginning to reconsider everything she had set in stone with Neji. He did achieve his goal in intimidating her. She stood with her hands shoved in her pockets and viewed the crowd of heads; too short to peer into the center of the crowd. Her thoughts ceased as she heard, and felt, Neji and Datchi's cars appear on top of the garage floor. Their engines revving, and Tenten stood on her tippy toes to glance at Neji stepping out of the driver's side of his car. His long charcoal hair whipping around his back as his back was turned towards her. But his side profile was in view and she saw it. There, across his features was a small smile. A genuine smile, while shaking hands with Shikamaru who smiled back at him. Naruto and Sasuke were nowhere present, but Ino cheered beside Shikamaru and Sakura had her hands on her hips smiling, standing beside Neji. The whole crowd was cheering and celebrating at Neji's accomplishment.

Tenten smiled small although it didn't reach her eyes. She couldn't help but feel as though she interrupted something. This group of friends had known each other for years, and here she comes, barging in on them as though she had a right to. She wasn't with them through their hardships, trials, or even triumphs. She was accepted by the group of girls, but the group of guys were still not open to her. Who was she to ask such a big favor? They didn't really know her, and she them. She was used to being a loner most times but managed to find friends here and there. This group was the first she had felt comfortable with entirely, but their distant acceptance of her sort of stung. Losing her mom, and her strained relationship with her dad made her want to confide with or to someone more. Not in a romantic way just in a friendship way. And that's what made her draw towards the group. First Hinata, then the rest. But she was wrong for expecting them to bring her into their circle with open arms. She suddenly felt nauseous and wanted to truck back to her car, escaping into the night unbeknownst amongst them. But before she could even take a step to the side and make it to the elevator door, a small hand grabbed her wrist. Tenten turned wide eyed to look at who it was and met green eyes.

Sakura…

A small path of parted people was clear and she stared past Sakura's head for a second to see Neji leaning against his car with his arms folded across his chest, Shikamaru standing off to his side hands shoved in his pockets, and Ino beside him, all staring at Tenten.

Tenten stared at Sakura's hand and didn't know what to say.

"Come join us, Tenten." She smiled at her and Tenten finally allowed her wrist to be pulled, once more, down the clear path towards the others. She couldn't help but smile genuinely.

There was a small place for heaven.

"Tenten."

* * *

"TENTEN!"

Tenten shot her eyes wide open, the turned to her side to see Ino tapping on the car glass window. She rolled it down slowly semi afraid of what Ino wanted.

"I was trying to say are you ready?" Ino waited for Tenten to respond but she sat still frozen.

Apparently she had been spaced out from the time she left the race with Ino, Sakura, Shikamaru, and Neji, to the present time. She blinked and took in a breath, analyzing her surroundings. She was sitting in a driver's seat with a huge helmet on her head. A seatbelt was strapped across her body, and the inside of the car looked way different than the inside of a "normal" car. There was no stereo, just several buttons, and a stick shift near her seat. There was a passenger seat, but no one occupied it. Good for their sakes, or maybe it was hers. She didn't want to be responsible for the death of her life and someone else's. Tenten shifted her eyes to the window in front of her that allowed her to view where she was at. Another parking garage. Great. She rolled her eyes. It seemed abandoned and under construction. There were still steel beams in place around the perimeter of the level they were on, however in the center of the floor was the ramp that lead to the next floor and lower floor. Great. Just perfect. Not only did she not know how to drive but Neji really wanted to test her drift skills. She felt silly thinking he was just going to race her on a regular race course. But then again, this was Neji she was thinking about; he wouldn't come at her with just anything. Everything was going to be an obstacle as long as they tried to go against each other.

She narrowed her eyes at Neji, who was standing beside the driver's side of his mustang with arms folded across his chest. Shikamaru was leaning against the black car, drawing a cigarette away from his thin lips and blowing out white smoke. They seemed to be talking….speaking of talking. She looked back up at Ino.

"-And that's all there is to remember Tennie, you'll be fine."

Tenten glared at Ino in bitterness, mad at herself for missing the vital quick lessons that would help her at least make it out of this race alive. Winning was important, but staying alive was necessary.

"Damnit, could you repeat that?"

"Hey, you ready?!" Shikamaru called out in a lazy tone, catching Ino and Tenten's attention.

"Yeah!" Ino called out and turned back to Tenten, whose eyes were the size of cantaloupes.

"INO! Ino, help me!" Tenten whispered at her aggressively.

"Sorry Ten." She said backing away from the car with a stressful expression, glancing down the side to see Shikamaru come near them. Neji managed to get into his car and be sitting beside Tenten while she was talking to Ino briefly. She didn't understand how he got beside her without her hearing anything. She wasn't paying attention to anything.

"Alright," Shikamaru called out from the side of Tenten's car. Ino stood to his left and Sakura beside her, who was on her phone the entire time Ino was helping her but happened to be off by the time she was about to take off.

Take…off…..

"Ready!"

Tenten swallowed her fear and nervously clutched the steering wheel while staring straight ahead. She recalled them deciding to race to the fourth level and come back down to the second. She driving a sports car Shikamaru had driven to the lot. Sakura and Ino drove Shikamaru's actual car, while the one Tenten was in, was just an extra sports car from Neji's garage.

She was as ready as she ever would be.

"Set!"

She turned quickly to see Neji, who didn't look at her. He was focused on the concrete before him. Focused. Before hearing Shikamaru yell go, she frantically looked at Ino who gestured with her hand a pulling motion. Her mouth moved, but due to the loudness from the engines, she couldn't hear her. By the time go left his mouth, she had realized Ino was gesturing her to pull the emergency brake when turning curves.

Neji instantly took off and Tenten pressed the gas pedal as hard as she could. Jolting forward, she felt the wind from the night attack her arms and mid-section. The first curve was approaching, and Neji was ahead of her easily pulling the emergency brake and shifting gears. She gripped the emergency break and felt the car screech underneath her and slide across the concrete. Not knowing which gear to shift to, she tried each one until the third worked perfectly, then stomped on the gas pedal harder.

Trailing up the straight ramp, she continued to press the gas pedal and jerked the steering wheel all the way to the left the let go and drove to the opposite side of the third level. Having a chance to pay attention to Neji, she realized he wasn't anywhere in sight. She swore outwardly, and decided to go even faster. Clutching the e brake, she lifted it up and shifted into another gear, luckily it was the right one and the car didn't reject it. Once driving up the third level ramp, she saw Neji's car speed down the ramp beside her.

"Shit!"

She knew there was no chance in hell, she would race to the fourth floor them back down to the second in time in order to beat Neji, so, she did what any normal person would do. She cheated. She reversed her car once up the ramp, and sped down the ramp back to the third floor. Honestly, how else was she going to beat him? Or have a chance to.

…..

Ino tapped her foot nervously against the concrete beneath her trying to not spazz out. Sakura paced besides her shaking her head.

"This wasn't good Ino, we should have stopped her. We shouldn't have let her race." She whispered aggressively.

Ino snapped her head to Sakura and narrowed her eyes. "You think?"

"This is so stupid. WHY did she put herself in this kind of danger if she can't even race!"

Sakura froze and realized what she said, while Ino stared at her with a pissed expression, wide eyes and an open mouth. Sakura shouted that sentence, earning the attention of Shikamaru. He slowly turned to eye his girlfriend and Sakura.

"What did you say?"

"I…said….Tenten is going to win?" She nervously looked at Ino who shook her head frantically and slapped her forehead.

"Shit."

"She can't race?!"

"…."

"Ino answer me damnit."

"…..No, she can't." Ino didn't bother meeting his eyes because she knew that he was dead serious. And when he's serious, he's upset. Which was rare, but deadly.

There was silence for a long time before Shikamaru sighed loudly, releasing smoke from his mouth and placing a hand on top of his forehead while walking away from Ino and Sakura.

"Shit, this was a bad idea." If Tenten gets hurt, it puts them all in danger; jeopardy.

"Big mouth why did you say that!" Ino slapped Sakura across the arm practically boiling with anger.

"Nani, Ino _PIG_ I didn't mean to say it! It just spilled out!"

Ino was about to say something back, but heard the sound of an engine growing louder. She turned around to see Neji's car approaching them. Not a scratch on his Mustang, and not a Tenten in sight.

Sakura bit her lip and eyed Ino who glared at her but watched Neji park his car and open the door. Shikamaru walked up to his door as he was making his way out smirking.

Ino and Sakura were several hundred feet away from Neji and Shika, so they didn't hear what Shikamaru was saying considering Neji's car was still on. But from the instant drop of Neji's face turning dead serious and upset, they knew Shikamaru had told him Tenten couldn't race.

And speaking of Tenten, there she came from down the ramp, slowly speeding towards Neji and Shikamaru. She saw Ino and Sakura further away so, she drove towards them and stopped, putting the car in park. There was minor damage to the car like front bumper damage, scuffs on the back bumper, and a broken side door mirror.

Tenten opened the car door, unbuckled herself out of her seat then stepped outside of the car. She took her helmet off and smiled at Ino and Sakura. Sakura looked away from Tenten while Ino glared at her. Tenten felt her smile shift when Ino looked back at her and shook her head.

"They know."

"Tenten." She felt her body stiffen at the tone of Neji. He and Shikamaru approached the group of girls determined to figure stuff out.

"Did you know how to race?"

"…"

"Tenten." She felt his eyes bore into her back, seeing that she was too afraid to meet his narrowed eyes.

"..h-huh?"

"Did you or did you not, know how to race. And turn to me when I am talking to you." His voice was so commanding, she faced him without arguing and finally met his eyes. They were full of seriousness and anger. Why was he upset?

"What's the big deal, I didn't crash or die did I?"

"You could have, and that would have been the end for all of us. I would have never raced you had I known you were inexperienced."

"That's exactly why I never told you."

Neji narrowed his eyes even more and stepped closer to her.

"Who the fuck are you, to even risk your life, what we do, what we've worked so hard for these past years. Your little stunt could have cost us everything. If you ever pull something like that again, I will kill you my damn self. I am not going responsible for you or your mistakes."

"Well, I never asked you to be. I wanted to race you, so I did. I don't see what the big deal is. You won anyway, so shut the hell up and stop nagging at me for something that never happened. I didn't die."

Ino and Sakura were staring wise eyed between Neji and Tenten but gasped when she spoke up. She had some nerve, some backbone speaking to him like that when he really did have a valid point. She should not have raced and put them all in jeopardy. If something happened to her, they would all be responsible for her indiscretion.

"Pathetic. I don't know why I even agreed to race you in the first place. This whole shit was a waste of my time." He spat out with pure disgust and turned to walk back to his car.

Tenten smirked and folded her arms across her chest.

"It wasn't a waste of mine Neji-kun. Not at all."

Neji didn't say anything and kept on walking towards his car. So Heaven pushed Hell just a little bit more. It wasn fun seeing where the boundary lines were…or should be. Tenten's smirk remained on her face.

"Nice ass Neji-kun." Sakura choked on her spit and Ino stared wide eyed at Neji. Shikamaru was caught off guard and instantly looked over to Neji to see his reaction.

Neji froze in place and his fist along his left side clenched up. His shaking was visible as he was attempting to control his anger. This girl had no nerve, no filter. She was simply trying to see how deep under his skin she could get. And boy, was she in deep.

After a few seconds, he strode towards his car, opened the driver's door, got in and closed it behind him. He didn't even bother putting on his seatbelt because he was gone within 2 seconds; speeding down the ramp to the ground level.

Heaven 2- Hell 2

* * *

How was it? Pretty good?...I hope so, because Chapter 4 will bring you life lol. I will update once a week now since I don't have the future chapters written out. So next Friday be ready! Review and say what you want! Add to your alerts too!

Take care xoxoxox


	4. In (Part 1)

Saturday

(Night)

Tenten stared at herself in the mirror for a minute longer. She eyed her hairstyle before switching to her buzzing phone on her bed behind her.

A lot of things took place after Thursday night. One of them being a forced invitation to Neji's race tonight. She had no idea why she needed to be there, but apparently her being a member on their team was still under review. She still stood an actual chance of racing with them. Naruto let her know she wasn't racing tonight, which gave her a relaxed feeling. Naruto was the kindest out of all the guys; the most open and inviting. His personality was attractive and she could see why Hinata was infatuated with him. They were opposites: he was outgoing & energetic, she was shy and quiet.

Her phone buzzed once more and Tenten decided to answer it. There was a text message from Ino. She scanned the message and smirked, rapidly typing a response and sending it seconds later.

Ino and Sakura advised Tenten she would be better off car pulling with them. A night like this brought a lot of viewers, and the parking lot was going to be full of cars plus people. They didn't want her getting lost, so they all exchanged numbers and decided picking Tenten up was the best option.

Looking back at herself in her mirror, she tugged gently on the bottom of her shirt. It was a deep red, skin tight top. With a slit in the middle that began from the top of the shirt and stopped right before the revealing of her cleavage. On the front was a golden dragon that wrapped itself around her backside and stomach. Its head was on her abdomen, with whiskers and an open mouth. Her pants were simple light grey cargos, which sat nicely around her hips. There was a slight layer of skin showing revealing her toned stomach. Her eyes traveled to her hair once more, deciding her ribbon ties were the perfect color choice; red.

She really did look full on Chinese tonight.

She smirked to herself and turned around to face her bed. Gathering her wallet, keys, and phone, she proceeded to her bedroom door. Her father, Shou, was at the auto shop for a few more hours, but would be back around 12 tonight. She already told him she would be out with some friends, so he was aware she wasn't going to be home when he returned.

Jogging down the stairs, she turned the corner once at the bottom, and headed for the small kitchenette. She opened one of the small cabinets to grab a small bag of chips and Japanese candy. Shou had finally gone grocery shopping and asked her what foods she ate these days. They decided to shop together earlier in the day, and it wasn't as bad or awkward as she expected. They were still getting to know one another despite the gap of unfamiliarity between them. He even took her to a small restaurant around the corner that had American food. She smiled to herself while recalling the evening. The steak burger was not as good as a greasy burger from downtown New York, but it was still pretty good. Shou left back for the Auto shop around 7; he was present there from 8 in the morning, but took a break to spend time with Tenten.

Tenten's ears perked up as she heard a distant honk coming from outside her place. She quickly grabbed her snacks, and other items before heading out the door.

"About time you guys showed up, I was wondering if you all forgot to come get me." Tenten closed the door behind her and settled in the back seat, sitting the items she carried on the seat beside her. She looked up to see Sakura in the passenger seat, and Ino gripping the steering wheel. Ino turned her head to her left.

"Forehead over there couldn't make up her mind about what to wear." There was slight irritation laced in her voice and Tenten laughed.

" _Me?!_ You're the one who couldn't decide which hairstyle you were going for tonight! That's probably why Shikamaru went to get Naruto instead of us. Because you took way too long!"

"For _your_ information he didn't pick us up because he had an errand to run." Sakura shot Ino a side glare and sighed.

"So no one told me who Neji is racing tonight." Tenten looked out her window watching the passing scenery. Sakura answered her back.

"Oh, he's racing Deidara tonight. The guy is crazy as hell, you remember his race against Kinota?" She turned to Ino who nodded her head but kept her eyes on the road.

"I remember. Didn't Kinota have to have back surgery after that crash?"

"Yep. He never really raced since. Matter of fact, is he even living here?"

"..I don't know.." Ino said while thinking. Tenten couldn't help but stare at them with wide eyes. Deidara sent someone to the hospital? He sure sounded ruthless. She hoped he wouldn't do that to Neji, or rather Neji be more aware of his surroundings with this guy.

Wait, why did she care? She didn't.

"Does Deidara normally race kind of crazy?"

"Yes, majority of the people he races end up in the hospital or with something broken. Neji took a real race this time. But if he does want to ultimately race you know who, then he will have to pretty much beat each member in the group."

"How many are in the group?"

Ino chimed in this time. "That race? There are 7, but in the group there are about 14 I think." Silence fell in-between the group of girls.

Tenten looked back out the window beside her, hoping tonight hell knew what it was doing.

* * *

It was a little past 11 by the time the girls made it to the race. Tenten thought Thursday night was packed, but this crowd had nothing on that night. There had to be at least a thousand people present. Counting the amount of people on the first level garage, the second, and now the third, it was packed as hell. She was glad Ino and Sakura told her to ride with them because she would have been lost. She wished Hinata was able to make it, but she said Neji told her not to come, plus her father was back in town tonight. Ugh, Neji was like an overprotective brother.

Tenten rolled her eyes and opened the car door to get out. She grabbed her Japanese candy and bag of chips, shutting the door behind her. Sakura stood in front of her, and Ino traveled around the car to meet them where they stood. The music was loud amongst the talking and laughing from the crowd. If it wasn't for the hand on her wrist by Ino, she would have faded into the crowd. The three girls weaved between people until they were across the garage standing before an all-black sports car, and an all-white sports car.

"Sasuke kun!" Tenten flinched at the high pitch noise coming from her right and saw Sakura flee towards Sasuke. His back was turned to them until he heard the same bird call she did, then he turned around from facing his white sports car and smirked watching the pink haired beauty come closer to jumped on the tips of her toes and wrapped her arms around Sasuke's neck, who in return laced his hands around her waist. Sakura smiled before Sasuke leaned down to capture his lips with hers.

Tenten felt the release of her wrist in Ino's hands and she slowly walked over to Shikamaru who stood beside Sasuke with another cigarette in between his lips. As Ino approached, Shikamaru's eyes softened and he withdrew the cig from his lips, blew out smoke, and hugged Ino with one arm when she was standing before him. Ino was wearing a tight bodycon short dress that stooped right below her butt cheeks. It was the same color as Sakura's hair, but went well against her pale skin. She wore knee high, light pink pastel sneakers with white shoe laces and her hair was in a high ponytail. Shikamaru wore a simple dark green T shirt and dark washed denim jeans.

Just then, Tenten felt someone approach her side.

"Feels kind of awkward just standing here. I'll be happy once the race starts." Tenten smiled as she looked up to her left seeing Naruto.

"I feel the exact way." Naruto looked down at her and laughed.

"Glad you made it tonight Tenten, it's really going to be a good race!"

"….I hope so…" Thoughts filled her mind from the slight worry of Neji's wellbeing. She cared. A little.

"Neji…Neji will be alright, right?" She asked Naruto who at first stared at her with wide eyes, but then smiled and they went back to normal size.

"Yeah! He always is! Deidara may be dangerous and his reputation perceives him, but Neji is very talented. He raced him before so he knows what to do." Naruto reassured Tenten who in return nodded at his statement, gazing back at Sasuke and Sakura. Sakura wore an off white cropped hoodie. It had a large black barcode on the front with random numbers at the bottom. She wore light washed denim jeans with holes and a pair of white and black Adidas. Tenten eyed Sasuke who wore an opened black, baseball jersey with white buttons. On his back was LOS ANGELES written in Kanji in white. Beneath his jersey was a black tank, and he wore black loose Cargo pants. Black and white Adidas were also on his feet.

Tenten blinked and raised an eyebrow. Was this going to be a usual thing between her friends? Matching and what not?

"Ooo! The race is about to start!" Naruto broke through her thoughts with his loud voice and she looked in the direction he was looking in. Because the group was towards the back of the garage near the elevator, they all looked in the opposite direction, which was behind them. A grey sports car and a red sports car pulled up beside each other as people parted and open pathway for both cars.

"Which one is Neji?" Tenten asked standing on the tips of her toes trying to see over the sea of heads.

"The grey one."

"Why isn't he in his Mustang?"

"Because he didn't want to take a chance of having Deidara ruin it. Neji normally races with the grey one unless he knows a race is going to be easy, then he'll race with his own car. The black Mustang." Naruto summed up, eyeing Neji from a distance.

"Hey you guys, lets hop on the elevator now since everyone is here. That way we'll be present when they come up to the 10th floor." Sakura had a point, and they all followed her and Sasuke into the small elevator beside them. It was ironic how no one was in the elevator since they were all present on the third floor. Tenten swore the capacity of the garage floor wasn't able to hold that many people. As the door to the elevator closed, she heard the roar of the crowd, knowing the race had just begun.

Neji shifted his gaze from the concrete ground, to Deidara who was grinning at him crazily from behind his mirror. His eyes narrowed just as the grin on Deidara's face turned into a side smirk. He understood the risk he was taking racing him, and to get to where he wanted 3to, he needed to prove that he was the best. Which meant racing each member of the group. Starting with Deidara first.

Neji revved his engine just a little bit as a thin, tall, model like woman, stood in-between both sports cars. Deidara gripped the steering wheel tight with excitement as he bounced in his driver's seat. Whatever Deidara was diagnosed with or what he was currently high on, was not the matter here. Winning was, and Neji would have to be aware of Deidara at all times. The moment he took his eyes off of him would be the moment his life was in jeopardy. Deidara has tricks up his sleeves that are only accepted because of who he works for.

Neji felt the thickening of his blood and the beating of his heart in his chest. In a split second he shifted his glare to a particular area in the crowd, but didn't lay eyes on who he wanted. He refocused and stared back at the woman before him.

When her arms dropped to her sides, the gears weren't the only thing that shifted.

* * *

 **12:01 AM**

"I still can't believe you tricked him like that! Man that was crazy!" Naruto's wide eyes and grin emphasized how excited he was about what took place. Neji ended up pulling the win, and after all the sabotages Deidara had up his sleeve, it felt like a truly deserved victory.

Shikamaru featured a grin and a slight chuckle from his lips, all while shaking his head. He had a beer bottle in his left hand and took a second sip from it, briefly looking up from his glass and making eye contact with his girlfriend. He and Neji were leaned up against the side of the sports car. Neji remained still with his left hand in his front black jean pocket, and the other hand clasped around a beer bottle. His bottle was half way empty seeing as how he loved the cool taste of brown liquid stream throughout his body. The numbing sensation ran through his body slowly since his bloodline had a high alcohol tolerance. Naruto's remark caused him to side smirk and show a hint of perfect white teeth. When his head moved in different directions, his hair shined due to the lighting in the garage. He wore a simple dark green V neck shirt that hugged his body fittingly. Beside Neji stood Naruto, and across from Naruto was Sasuke whose hands were shoved in his pocket. His face bore an expression of relaxation and boredom as his body was slouched backwards with both hands in his front pockets. Beside Naruto stood Sakura, then Ino, and Tenten.

The group was in a small circle towards the back of the large garage floor. Several cars were randomly parked around them; space limited. The crowd hadn't died down since the race; there were still hundreds of people present. The group spoke to each other in a raised voice due to the noise level.

"So you invited me just to see you race again, huh Neji?" Tenten's eyes bore into his hard, narrowed, calculating, yet soft colored lavender eyes as she slowly popped another candy drop in between her closed lips. They were lined in a smirk, which earned a thin lipped expression from Neji.

"Pretty Vein." She crushed the candy closed mouthed.

"I invited you here, because I wanted to. To see me race was an added bonus for you." Neji's head was lowered as he placed his lips on the bottle and continued to stare at Tenten.

"With a purpose of course." She slanted her eyes slightly while her smirk remained on her face.

"Which is?" Shikamaru and Sasuke exchanged glances quickly while Naruto rocked on his feet back and forth looking down.

Neji paused with his lips centimeters from the top of the bottle, to stare uninterrupted into Tenten's hazel like eyes. His head was still lowered so as he looked at her, the stare was more demented than attempted.

"Neji, congratulations on your win."

Kami sure had a sense of humor. He didn't even have to tell Tenten the reason for bringing her there, the reason showed up right in her face. The devil himself. All eyes shifted to the body approaching the group coming from Sasuke's backside. Tenten took the second to look at all the faces of her friends as she slowed the chewing on the Japanese candy in her mouth. Their looks were mixtures of pure shock, irritation, seriousness, and anger. With maybe some hatred…coming from Sasuke's end. She also noticed how quiet the garage floor became; still and silent a pin could drop and be heard.

Neji removed his lips from his bottle after taking another casual sip, and blinked slowly before looking up and over to the voice.

"Nice to see you again…Orochimaru."

Said _man..or woman? Or…..snake_?...Tenten tilted her head sideways in an attempt to figure out who _it_ was. Orochimaru smiled coly and looked towards the back of Sasuke's head. He approached the group from Sasuke's end which would place them feet away from each other. Amongst him were seven other men, all varying in shape and size? Deidara was skimpily woven between two of the tall men furthest away from Orochimaru. As if he was hiding for cover or protection. Tenten eyed him with a raised eyebrow while placing another candy drop into her mouth.

Sasuke didn't even bother to turn around to face Orochimaru or his members. He just stared with narrowed eyes at the concrete ground.

"It is nice to be seen…" A weird, snicker came from Orochimaru's lips that made Tenten want to choke on her candy. It took everything inside her not to make a noised reaction. Orochimaru placed a hand on top of Sasuke's right shoulder, which stilled his frame noticeably.

"It's been a while hasn't it Sasuke _**kun**_ …I've been on business traveling and missed your race last night." Sasuke refused to turn around. He instead allowed his balled fists to remain in his front pant pockets, and clenched his jaw tight still narrowly staring at the concrete. Orochimaru smirked and turned his head to Deidara quickly before turning back to face Sasuke's head.

"Deidara tells me you won. I'm sorry I wasn't there to see…" He leaned in towards Sasuke's right ear so only they could hear what was said.

"I know Itachi would have _loved_ to see it." His smirk grew wide as he watched Sasuke react in the manner he expected. He quickly turned his whole body around to face Orochimaru and spoke with a tone so close to death, Neji, Shika, and Naruto were still slightly rattled whenever it was used. Despite how long they all had been friends, after the disappearing of his brother, no one really knew the full extent of Sasuke's anger. Only Sakura did but that was because he would seldom express his thoughts to her about the matter.

"Don't you fucking touch me unless you're ready to die."

Orochimaru boldly laughed with his mouth wide open after throwing his head back to the concrete beams. Tenten eyed him like he had grown six heads, meanwhile Sakura's palms were becoming sweaty and Ino was pale beyond her desired complexion. Slight sound was also coming from the mouths of several other members behind him. It was several seconds before he recomposed himself to a more…less crazy person.

"Glad to see you're still _ **alive…**_ " His eyebrows rose as he emphasized the last word in the sentence, causing Sasuke's eyes to widen just a tad. Meanwhile Orochimaru kept a smirk plastered across his face as he shifted his calculating eyes to Neji whose eyes were never off him.

"Now Neji, I saw a few mistakes that I feel should be addressed."

"Die…and get the fuck out of my sight." Neji stated so coldly, it made Tenten flinch. He took another casual sip of his beer and let his gaze fall off Orochimaru.

"My my my, one whole week gone and I come back to such hostility." Orochimaru turned to face several of his men then back to eye Neji, Shika, Naruto, Sakura, Ino, and-

"Who is this exotic creature we have here?"

Tenten's hand was frozen in midair as her fingers were stilled against her lips with a candy drop against them. Her wide eyes revealed her taken aback attitude and mild confusion. She looked as clueless as a bystander.

"Huh?" She answered scholarly in a way that made Orochimaru chuckle. He stepped a few steps to his left to stand before Tenten. Now up close, she got a better view of his features. His jet black hair was lighter than the dark aura that emitted from his eyes. Fine lines were under them but not dark circles. His skin was very pale and she squinted slightly to see if he was wearing foundation. He did wear eye liner and had his ears pierced. His attire was all black, hell, his whole group was dressed in all black. But very stylish for he wore a somewhat tight black shirt made with a fabric that she probably couldn't pronounce from a country she couldn't pronounce either. Orochimaru wore a long black draped skirt like material, which really could pass as one. One side was longer than the other, and beneath it were a pair of sleek black tight jeans.

Orochimaru smirked instantly which sent waves down Tenten's back.

"Who are you girl."

The only reaction she made was with the hand against her lips. She lowered it to her side after popping the candy drop into her mouth, then clutched the candy bag with her other hand. Her wide eyes never peeled off of him in the process. She only blinked a few times and slowly chewed on her candy to signal that she heard him.

" _Neh_ , you think she's deaf boss?" Deidara shouted loudly so Orochimaru could hear him. He smirked and tilted his head while staring at Tenten.

"I doubt the Hyuga would be dealing with a deaf girl."

"Just call her Panda since she's not responding. I mean look at her.." Tenten's eyes slit into a narrowed glare as she slowly leaned aside the left shoulder of Orochimaru to peer into the background and see the tall red haired figure who commented. Panda was the term she was given most of her life by people who tried to pick on her. It annoyed her extremely and most times she would beat them up for saying so.

 **" Zhège xióngmāo rúhé zhuā nǐ sǐwáng.."**

 _(How about this panda claw you to death..)_

Tenten whispered viscously, and venomously emphasizing death at the end. The red head's eyes widened briefly before narrowing again at hers. Orochimaru's slight intake of breath caused her to shift her gaze up to meet his. He wore a smirk that seemed as though he was intrigued.

" Zhèyàng yīgè měilì de nǚrén zěnme huì zhème bàolì?"

 _(How could such a beautiful woman be so violent?)_

Tenten's face dropped instantly. He spoke Chinese? Who was this guy?!

Ino and Sakura stood too frozen to react to Orochimaru. Naruto's eyes were wide with shock meanwhile Shika, Sasuke, and Neji were slightly taken aback but weren't shocked. None of them knew he spoke Chinese. Neji eyed Tenten through the duration of the discussion. From what he gathered, she had no ideas who this man was. If she did, her body language wouldn't be so strong. His facial expression remained unreadable. Ino and Sakura finally released a gasp at the same time that helped bring Tenten into reality and glare at Orochimaru. She didn't appreciate this random man challenging her but felt he was sizing her up, and if that's what he wanted to do, then she would give him the damn show of his lifetime.

" **Rúguǒ nǐ bù huílái tā mā de wǒ huì gàosù nǐ**." She spat out slowly while leaning forward towards Orochimaru. Her temper was seeping through even more visibly now, her fists shook, cheeks red and flared out. The small bag of candy dropped to her side the moment she closed her fists tight. Orochimaru stood a foot taller than her, but she wasn't intimidated by anything about him. ( _If you don't back the fuck up, then I will show you.)_

Orochimaru cracked a sly smirk and chucked softly, meeting Tenten's dominant stare half way by leaning his head downwards because she didn't intimidate him. Rather she intrigued him.

"Zhèyàng yīgè wūdiǎn de shétou yīgè zhème niánqīng.."

 _(Such a tainted tongue for one so young)_

His left hand cupped her chin so delicately, she froze, registering if it was even happening. Her eyes were linked with his and his with hers. It was as if he was possessing her whole body from one gesture and she couldn't break away from it, from him. From the longed, dark, deep, creepy look in his eyes.

"Dàn wǒ quèshí yǒu zhìyù tā."

 _(But I do have a cure for it.)_

His touch against her skin was worse than anything she'd ever encounter. She could feel the coldness of his thin, slender fingers, it reminded her of a skeleton. Their encounter made the one she first had with Neji look and feel peaceful. Neji's eyebrow was raised and he hadn't taken another sip from his beer since they began speaking in Chinese. He wasn't going to lie, the moment Orochimaru's fingers slipped under Tenten's chin, made his back stiffen for some odd reason. Something about this wasn't right.

A smirk slowly formed across Orochimaru's features again as the next few words escaped his lips in a whisper. " **Dédào nǐ de xīgài, wǒ huì gàosù nǐ."** _(Get on your knees and I'll show it to you.)_

Tenten's blood ran cold throughout her body. The color drained from her cheeks as she stood motionless for a few seconds. Her wide eyes froze in size as anger traveled through her. The comment began to register through her brain and her features began to show it. Her eyebrows drew closer together as her cheeks began to tint red with color. But before anyone could predict, in the blink of an eye, the unexpected happened.

 _ **SLAP!**_


	5. In (Part 2)

_I know, I said Sunday. I got off work late and started editing this, only to realize I needed to revise it lol. So by 11:30, I knew there was no way it would be out Sunday. And now I've spent the last 2 hours revising, and TA DAH! All finished! Lol. This chapter isn't how you all are expecting it to be. It's how I planned but, it catches you all off guard. Lol. Thank you for the love and comments! Enjoy you all, I'll see you next Saturday or Sunday with Chapter 5 :)_

* * *

 _SLAP **!**_

A loud gasp escaped Ino, Sakura, and Naruto. Shikamaru stared with shock in his wide eyes, and Sasuke as well. Neji wore a look of shock and humor. The large group Orochimaru traveled with waited on his reaction with tense bones; ready to strike on his command. Tenten glared up at Orochimaru in pure hatred, but her expression slowly fell and was replaced with confusion once she watched him draw his head back to allow a psychotic laugh escape his throat. She concentrated on the twitching left end of his lip as he laughed with his eyes closed and a hand pressed against his stomach. Sakura and Ino looked at Orochimaru afraid, seeing as they had never encountered him in such a way before. They had no idea he was this lunatic.

But just as suddenly as his laughter began, it stopped abruptly. He straightened his head to be centered but his eyes were casted downwards peering into Tenten's. Her glare was mixed with confusion and anger, however her features continued to grow with confusion. She had become slightly taken aback and leaned backwards; away from his body.

Another smirk, the same picture perfect rehearsed one he used moments before, was glued on his face. He gently placed his left hand on her left shoulder just as he did with Sasuke. This gesture caused Tenten to widen her eyes, alarmed and aware. What was the matter with her? Normally she would have flattened his face in with her fists, but for some reason, she couldn't move from her position. Just what hold did this guy have over people?

Her wide eyes held her shock, confusion, and something new.

Fear.

Orochimaru leaned his head into Tenten's neck. His lips just beside her earlobe and his breath scoping it.

In a low, deep voice, he whispered to her, "Don't ever touch me, unless I instruct you to."

Then, in one swift motion, Orochimaru formed a tight fist with his right hand, and slammed it into Tenten's ribcage. Tenten felt her heart stop beating as time froze and she momentarily forgot where she was, and what just happened. The breath that would have come out her nose was instead trapped inside her chest; as a result, she forgot how to breathe. Tears began to well up in the corner of her wide eyes as she hunched her body forward, wrapping both arms around her abdomen. Tenten's legs became weak, and before she knew it, she had allowed her body to give way and leaned forward against Orochimaru. Her forehead now resting on his left shoulder.

No one spoke of the group; all too shocked.

Orochimaru's hand remained on her shoulder the entire time. He placed his lips close to her ear again. As if harassing her twice wasn't already enough. A small smirk formed across his face as he felt the heat from Tenten's cheeks radiate.

"Unless of course, it's further down. Then you can touch me all you want." Orochimaru quickly grabbed Tenten's right hair bun with the hand he placed on her shoulder, and forcefully brought it down to meet his raised knee. Her face collided with it and created a small, cracking sound that slipped through the entire garage floor. Smirking wildly, he removed his hand from her hair, and watched her fall limply onto the garage slab.

Her right side hit the concrete, and her eyes instantly shut closed due to the pain. Pain. The red liquid that trickled down her cheek from her nostrils. Pain. The tight feeling in her stomach. Pain. The throbbing, pulsing beat in her head. Pain. The quiver of her eyebrows. Pain. And the silence she openly invited…

Peace.

Neji felt time stop around him and a switch inside flick on; everything happened so fast…

From the shattering sound of his bottle colliding with the concrete slab, to the screaming from his side by Naruto. The rush of adrenaline inside of him, to the quick flood of words fleeing from his lips. The look on Orochimaru's face when his eyes shifted from Tenten's body to meet his, and the drawn back fist that flew through the air to meet Orochimaru's right cheek.

"You son of a bitch!" Orochimaru barley dodged the punch from Neji. If it wasn't for the shattering sound of his glass beer bottle, or the words he shouted, Neji would have nailed him perfectly. Orochimaru merely moved his head back and let Neji's first sweep through air. Anger boiled inside of Neji and he became even more aggravated. Just as he lunged forward, so did one of the members from Orochimaru's group.

All chaos had broken out as the surrounding crowd grew loud in shout and cries. The guy that lunged towards Neji welcome his fist to the left side of his cheek. They began to fight, meanwhile Naruto landed a punch on Deidara, who slipped from behind several members to the front. Sakura's pained, confused, and concerned voice called out through group, no scattered, broken off into individual fights. She was hoping her voice would hit the eardrums of her boyfriend. He was currently engaged in a fight between two members in Orochimaru's group. Ino stood by her side, completely unmoved, as if she hadn't been in reality for some time. Shikamaru was standing against Neji's sports car at first, but quickly moved off it by the time the first punch was thrown. He turned to his girlfriend and yelled her name. Her body jolted as she looked up at him with wide eyes. Shikamaru pointed in Tenten's direction as he spoke over the noise of the crowd.

"You and Sakura get Tenten the hell out of here! Bring her to the warehouse. I'll get the guys and we will meet you there!" Sakura turned her head to Shikamaru. Ino's response was delayed and Sakura knew they had to act fast.

"We will do it now!" Sakura shouted. Shikaramu nodded his head at Sakura, then proceeded to break away his friends out of their fights. Sakura quicky faced Ino and clapped her hands in her face.

"Ino get it together! We don't have time! Come on!" She grabbed Ino's right wrist and pulled her in Tenten's direction.

"TENTEN?!"

 _Who was that?_

Tenten squinted her eyes open and made a faint groan feeling light headed and confused. Several stands of pink hair stuck to a Sakura's forehead as tiny beads of sweat beaded above her eyebrows. She had pink eyebrows? Tenten never noticed the color, and it took her being in pain across a floor with Sakura in her face to see it.

"Tenten, we're taking you out of here!" Ino's voice pinged in her ears as she managed to gaze beside Sakura and see Ino kneeling down beside Sakura. Tenten only groaned as a response and shut her eyes again.

"..Tenten….Tenten! Tenten stay awake!" Sakura's loud voice once again pinged into her ears, and she opened her eyes quickly to the sound. She felt Sakura's hands on her forearm and back of the neck, then Ino's hands gripping her other forearm. She remained eye level with the concrete. Able to see the chaos that unfolded after she fell. Shikamaru's hands were gripping the arms of Naruto, pulling him backwards. Naruto's face contorted in anger and he was shouting something…Sasuke calmly taking punches at a face she'd never notice...a broken glass bottle with liquid around it glistening from the garage lights- _ **Neji**_!

Tenten used what strength she had to scan her eyes around to find Neji. He was out of her mind since Orochimaru approached her. However, there he was, several feet beside his car. His ebony hair swaying from one side to another as he dodged punches that were attempting to scrape his face. She secretly wondered if apart of him was satisfied she got punched.

Wait. Why did she care?

His opinions about her should remain irrelevant, after all, he was the reason she came tonight in the first place. Her eyes began to droop once more, but just before they shut, throughout all the commotion, she heard a faint laugh that she'd come to learn. Orochimaru stood off, far away from the fights, laughing whole heartedly at the scene before him. Random people kept walking in front of him as he walked backwards. She never saw his face, nevertheless, the sound of his laugh was enough to last. She felt herself being picked up off the ground as darkness accompanied her.

* * *

….

 **2:07 AM**

Neji dug his fingers deeper into hair, gripping his skull. His usually clean, straight, detangled hair, was now down and disheveled, a look that never suited him. His elbows rested on the small wooden rectangular desk in his office while he sat in his chair reviewing the events that took place that night. Tasting the bitter taste of alcohol on his tongue, he knew a headache was coming at any second. No alcohol in his system and he still would have repelled like he did. Alcohol didn't cause him to react in such a way, his anger did.

"What the fuck was that tonight?!" Naruto shouted in frustration once the door behind him was shut.

Neji sighed outwardly while massaging his scalp. Yep. There came the headache.

The group of guys were back at the warehouse and inside of Neji's small office. "No one could have predicted that to happen." Sasuke's cold voice lingered in the room, as he eyed Naruto then Shikamaru. His hands were buried in his pockets and he stood in front of the door.

"In the end, you did get what you were hoping for Neji. You got an answer." Sasuke rolled his hard eyes to Neji who stared back at him with narrowed lavender orbs.

"Hn."

" _Now_ what's the plan?" Sasuke said mockingly in a low voice that sounded drenched with sarcasm and irritation. Neji rolled his eyes and stared hard at the table before him, while the others stood still in silence. The last thing he wanted right now was to be bothered.

"Let's put her on the team."

All three guys stared at Naruto. Sasuke squinted in confusion, Shika's eyes wide with shock then registration, Neji with shock and disbelief. Naruto looked around at all three guys and nodded his head as though he had come up with the best idea of the day.

"Let's make her a part of this team! We now know she doesn't work for Orochimaru, she's literally just some girl from America. How she found out we race is still another question for another day, but we can use her to our advantage. Orochimaru likes her, we can see he is fond of her so why not include her in our races as an asset? She didn't back down when he got in her face. Tenten has spunk, drive, and determination. I say we let her race with us."

The room stayed silent as Neji. Sasuke, and Shika registered all that Naruto has stated. He was telling the truth. At this point she would be an asset to their races and competition. She did have a lot of the qualities needed to be a street racer.

"Those are all good points, but one major fact is she can't race. How will she be an asset to us if she can't even shift gears correctly?" Sasuke countered Naruto's idea.

Shikamaru looked up from the floor and at Neji. "Well, that can all change. You brought us into this…and you and your skills are going to get us out, Neji."

Neji felt his eye twitch as the headache became more painful.

His eyes narrowed at the comment and shifted onto the desk before him. Neji hadn't lost his temper like that in months, but the cause was just he felt. No one should lay a hand on a woman period. The way Orochimaru handled tenten was beyond harsh. Normally he'd seen him put hands on a female member in his group, but not on anyone else. However, this was Orochimaru, so nothing truly surprised him. Neji couldn't tell if the feeling deep inside of him was caused by guilt or the mixture of nerves and alcohol; either way, he came to the conclusion that there was only one way to turn the situation around. One he knew he would probably regret down the line.

But….

She put herself out there tonight; faced him head on and didn't back down. Something about that sat well inside of him. He recalled the way her cheeks flared out as she attacked Orochimaru verbally, upset more than the time they'd shared a fight. He remembered her tone and body language. The way she gripped the half empty bag of candy in her right hand tighter before drawing her fist back slightly ready to aim at Orochimaru. He remembered the sound his fist made when it collided with her stomach, the air that never escaped her lips. The look of shock, anger, pain, and hurt in her face before she fell on the concrete. He had to honor her in some way because little did she know he was semi responsible for what happened to her. He remembered he didn't like her face when blood poured from her nose on the concrete. He didn't like someone else giving her hell unless it was him.

She was, in some ways, his piece of heaven, and it took the attack from Orochimaru for him to realize the rising high position she was starting to have in his life.

He groaned outwardly from this realization.

"I need a cig. Shikamaru….pass me one." Neji held out his hand in front of him, insisting Shika pass him a cig from his pack. Shikamaru stared at Neji for several seconds before closing his eyes and shaking his head reaching `for the pack in his back pocket. Neji rarely took cigs, but Shika noted how when he was stressed just right, her would ask him for one.

Shika passed the opened box into Neji's hand, who took one from his pack and held it out as Shika removed his lighter from his other back pocket. Sasuke sighed and closed his eyes feeling a headache begin to form, meanwhile Naruto stayed staring at Neji. White smoke drew from his lips as he leaned back into his chair and closed his eyes, holding his cig between his left thumb and pointer finger.

 **...**

"Tenten keep it on your nose!"

"But I can't breathe!" Tenten whined childishly as she held the bag of ice against her nose in the way Sakura instructed her to. She was laying across a small sofa that faced the refrigerator. Ino was leaning against it gathering her hair into a ponytail. They had brought her to a warehouse that held, what looked like, the group of guys' street cars. Tenten had woken up not too long ago, however, wished she was still passed out. She remembered the sound of Orochimaru's laugh, his haunting stare, his possession like skills, his tone, pale skin, and skeleton fingers. She also remembered the crashing sound of a bottle on the concrete not far away from her laid out body against it. The sound of Naruto's voice, but what really stood out the most was the look on Neji's face when she laid against the concrete. He was stilled with wide eyes, and it was as though something awakened inside of him. Tenten's body subconsciously shivered.

"Need a blanket Ten?" Tenten snapped out of her thoughts and turned to face Ino who was done doing her hair, raising a concerned eyebrow at her friend.

"No..I was only thinking."

"Tonight was horrible. I'm so sorry Tennie for what happened. That whole situation came from left field."

"You two were yelling in Chinese for a while, though. What was that about?" Tenten's back stiffened as she laid across the sofa and waited for Sakura's question to pass. There was a few seconds of silence before Tenten spoke again.

"He was calling me exotic, telling me I shouldn't speak so viscously, then suggested I suck his penis to clean my mouth out from my filthy language." Tenten stated casually. Sakura spat out the water in her mouth from the water bottle she was drinking moments between talking. Causing Ino to side eye her for a bit.

"Sakura…this had better not be a new ritual for you. Stop spitting out water, it's disgusting." Ino turned her attention back to Tenten and Sakura spoke as though she didn't even hear Ino.

"HE SAID WHAT?!" Sakura's ears grew red as he blood began to boil. Tenten's eyes traveled about Sakura's form before landing back onto her face.

"He told me he knew how to clean my mouth out. Then once he punched me, he whispered in my ear where he likes to be touched at. Which, wasn't his face... That was the worst pervert I ever met. I thought I'd have to watch out for stuff like that in America…not Japan."

"He's sick…" Ino stated with disgust still processing Tenten's words.

"I am glad you slapped him. But I'm mad that's _all_ you did."

Tenten nodded at Sakura's comment. "Don't worry. His time will some." She closed her eyes and before she could let a sigh escape her lips, the metal door at the top of the small staircase opened. She opened her eyes and turned her head slightly upwards so she could eye the four guys walking down the steps. Tenten then looked away and closed her eyes once more.

"Sasuke.." Sakura walked quickly to his side and wrapped an arms around his forearm while placing her other hand against the side of his cheek. A small red bruise had started to form, and when Sasuke and the guys came into the warehouse, they went straight up to Neji's office. She hadn't noticed the bruise from afar. She knew, based off the energy he was giving off, he didn't want to be bothered then, so she left him alone. But now, she could attend to him.

Sasuke flinched a little from her gentle touch on his cheek but didn't pull away from her. As much as he didn't want to be touched or bothered by her, he learned long ago to let her do as she pleases and he be okay with it.

Naruto stood off to the side, aligning himself with the sofa from a distance. Shikamaru stood feet away from Ino with his hands shoved lazily into his pockets. He wore another bored expression, looking tired as well. Ino was now beside the sofa's backside with arms folded across her chest staring at Neji. Neji stood across from the fridge, several feet away from Naruto, but was closer to Shika.

"So?" Ino urged towards Neji, who turned his glare to her before speaking.

"Tenten." Tenten opened her eyes and turned her head slightly upwards to eye Neji before turning her head back around and closing her eyes. Again.

"What."

"..Are you..okay..?"

Tenten's eyes snapped opened and confusion washed over her face. He was concerned about her? She'd thought he wanted to make her life hell, and believed seeing her getting beat up satisfied him. But by the tone in his voice, nerves, and what was that? Shyness? He sounded sincere. Tenten raised an eyebrow and sat up slowly on the sofa. Once sitting upright and taking her legs off the sofa, she turned to look at Neji. Ice bag in hand against nose, with confusion still on her face. She saw the slight paleness of his complexion. Noticed how he didn't have any scrapes or bruises on him. His long, ebony like hair was still down and stayed still behind his shoulders. Tenten's eyes traveled back to his face. His eyes avoided hers, and she wondered why.

"..I am.."

Her small voice made Neji meet her eyes. There was something hidden in them she couldn't grasp.

"Good to hear." He gave a short nod and let silence enter the setting momentarily before sighing.

"The events that conspired were not my intent." Naruto and Sasuke watched Neji as the words spilled from his lips. Shikamaru chose to tune out most parts of the speech Neji was giving. Most of the words were lies, or so he thought. He knew Neji didn't intend for Tenten to be beat up, however, she would have never been present had Neji not placed her at the race.

"I didn't expect things to go how they went, and for that, I apologize." He paused, meeting Tenten's eyes once more. She didn't speak, and instead rose an eyebrow encouraging Neji to finish. Tenten didn't know what to say. She wasn't expecting an apology from Neji, let alone an acknowledgment.

Slightly embarrassed she formed a light red colorant across her cheeks and nodded briefly.

"I understand, thank you."

"And in much lighter news, Tenten you're in!" Naruto chimed in, growing eager withholding the good news from her. Earning side glares from all the guys.

Tenten's eyes widened. "I'm what?"

"You're in!" Naruto exclaimed again, smiling widely at Tenten.

"Oh my gosh! Tennie that's what you wanted!" Sakura squealed and ran to her, squeezing her friend in a tight hug. Ino on the other hand, remained suspicious, arms still folded across her chest and glaring at Neji now.

"What for? Because she got beat up by Orochimaru and you guys have sympathy for her?" Shikamaru glanced at his girlfriend and smirked slightly to himself. She was always good at figuring things out. Neji narrowed his eyes once more at Ino.

"Mind your business." Ino remained silent but challenged his glare with her own.

"I don't know what to say.."

"Thank you would be a start." Tenten slit her eyes towards Neji and frowned. Neji stared blankly at Tenten.

"Fuck you would be a finish."

"Tenten be nice, Neji is going to be your coach!"

"My _what_!?" She could kill Naruto right about now. She knew she needed someone to teach her how to race, but Neji?

"Why _**him**_!?"

"Neji is the only one of us that can teach you. With his experience, you'll be fine." Sasuke spoke monotone, ready to end the conversation and go home.

First she was beaten up by some random man named Orochimaru. That's minus 100 imaginary points. Next, she gets told she's on the team! That's plus 1,000. Then she gets told her trainer is going to be Neji. That's minus fucking everything. She groaned and fell back onto the sofa. Hell was just coming after her tonight with no mercy. But, on the positive side, she did get what he has wanted. Even if her getting beaten up was a part of her acceptance into the group. She could race now. And that, made her smile a little bit inside. She always got what she wanted.

Always.

 **Hell-3 Heaven-2**

* * *

Thank you for reading! No worries, Tenten will see Orochimaru again next chapter :p If you're new, welcome! Hope you enjoyed. Be sure to add this story to your alerts, and comment! I'd love to hear what you think!

See you guys next week

xoxox


	6. Tenten or Kin

7:05PM

Friday

(Evening)

Neji's arms folded stiffly across his broad chest, evaluating the slender form feet before him. Her black ribbed tank rose slightly above her belly button to reveal tanned skin, which rivaled both her forearms complexion. Beads of sweat sat ready to fall from her glistening forehead, the more she wrinkled it in concentration. Her usually pale cheeks were flushed with color; Neji's eyes lingered on her rising and falling chest.

This week proved to be one of the most challenging, nerve racking, nail on the chalkboard weeks of his life. Neji drew his eyebrows together as he released a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose to relieve a growing headache. Tenten had been inserted into his life as though he was being punished; helping her learn to race, hell drive, drove him to 10 cigarettes, 14 bottles of beer, and 4 headaches in just 5 days.

"Neji, what did you say to use for this again?" Tenten stood away from the car with hands placed on her hips, staring perplexed at the tire before her.

Neji groaned at the throbbing pain in his forehead. Make that 5 headaches.

Monday began their training. Neji had been reluctantly 'recruited' to help Tenten improve her driving and drifting skills since she was now apart of his team. 15 minutes into the session he knew she didn't know her way around a sports car. She had issues adjusting certain switches and changing the gear shifts at the proper time. Her timing for pulling the handle while skating the cars' still back tires across the ground, also needed practice. However, Tenten's motivation was undeniable. Her constant effort for performing an act until done correctly was noteworthy. She took her time in perfecting the details; constantly requesting a do over of lessons. By Tuesday she was still noticeably adjusting to driving this type of car. Her reflex skills were starting to quicken, and her focus grew a little. Wednesday he had a break from her but not from racing; he prepared for his own race this coming Sunday night. He needed to practice, and desperately needed a mental break from Tenten. She wasn't as vicious as he had sought her out to be, ill minded, or bitterly intentioned. She was calculating, and her concern for racing overshadowed her competitively quick come backs towards him. As Thursday rolled around, he noticed her release of control, not just with driving, but with him as well. And the instant he noticed it was while he was in the passenger's seat, side eyeing her with a blank expression. She had her eyes focused keenly on the road before her trying to remember what to do next. To say Neji was surprised when Tenten pulled the clutch at the right time and mashed her right foot on the gas pedal hard, causing the back of the car to drift across the edge of the curved road they were on, is an understatement. The moment lasted 4 seconds, but it was all the time Tenten needed before celebrating with a wide smile and removing both hands from the steering wheel to punch the air. Neji stared at the unpopulated, now straight road before them, with slightly wide eyes.

In less than one week, Tenten managed to nail a simple technique for drifting. One that took Naruto 4 weeks to master. Neji then turned his gaze to Tenten, who continued to cheer herself on loudly.

Today was Friday, the last day of the week, racing week that is. After this, he would get a 2 day break from her, then its back to training together starting Monday. Neji sighed, signaling the breaking from his dazed thoughts and the ending of Tenten's perplexed mental state.

"Alright, just forget about that. It's not as important." He walked forward until he stood behind Tenten; close enough to note the exceeding beads of sweat upon the nape of her neck. Her hair was curled in a wave like a pattern due to the humidity in the air, and hand tied into a makeshift loose bun a top her head.

Tenten noticed his closeness and turned her head towards him silently raising an eyebrow; her hands still sitting on her hips.

"What is important is why we're over here. You told me you had to show me something."

As if the end of the sentence awakened her purpose, she came alive again. With a quickness she stepped into motion and reached to open the driver's side of the car.

"Stand over there," She commanded above the engine's rough sound and pointed in a direction away from the car. Neji turned around again, and noticed the spot she referred to. It was the spot where he stood earlier this week to show Tenten a test. The circle test. This test was designed to test the racer's drifting skills. The goal was to have the driver drift perfectly along the outer spray painted line, which formed a circle. No tire should enter the circle. If the racer passed this test then they would prove to know how to drift.

Neji smirked smugly and rolled his eyes while watching Tenten drive slowly to the start of the circle. There was absolutely no way Tenten would be able to coast along the outside of the white lined circle using her front two tires, after only briefly learning this technique less than 7 days ago. None what so ever. He did however, he actually passed his own circle test overnight. Sasuke was the next one of their group to pass it.

"Ready whenever you are." Neji spoke monotone, honestly feeling as though this was a waste of his time. His espresso coffee hair whipped against his lower back as the wind drew a cool touch against his skin; causing him to calm down. Be patient.

Tenten eyed Neji from inside the car. Loose strands of hair were tucked behind her ears and she wiped the sweat from her forehead for the thousandth time; trying to calm her nerves. She knew she could do this with one attempt, her determination was counting on it. Neji has been giving her racing lessons all week and it was time to show him what she had learned. Tenten placed her right palm upon the black gear stick, letting her foot stay stationary upon the brake pedal. She eyed the small blinking red numbers inside of the car dashboard, focusing her breathing.

7:06 PM

The clock shifted and so did Tenten's gaze. She quickly pressed down hard on the gas pedal to accelerate in a short amount of time; the distance from the place of the car to the circle was a good five yards away. The large rooftop parking garage provided the needed space for the test. Within one second Tenten reached the middle white outline of the circle and switched the gear to second. She twisted the steering wheel to the left and lifted the hand brake. Putting immense pressure on the gas again, she controlled the car along the outside of the white line while using throttle. Tenten pressed more onto the gas pedal to create more rotation into the circle.

Neji stood in the middle of the circle with his arms still folded across his chest, eyes following the front tires of Tenten's car to make sure they didn't come into the circle; past the outside of the spray painted white line. Grey smoke appeared everywhere after her car drifted amongst the line. By the time he closed his eyes and opened them once more, she was done. Car placed along the side of the rooftop wall, smoke still lingering in the air. And Neji just stared blankly at the petite frame climbing out of the driver's window. He was so transfixed on the car while absent mindedly thinking that he didn't see the big eyed tanned girl running towards him.

"Neji! Neeejiiiiiii, hey, Neji!" She waved her hand in his face trying to get his attention. Neji quickly blinked and made an annoyed face down to Tenten.

"Don't put your hand in my face ever again." He spoke emotionlessly, narrowing his eyes at Tenten who rolled her eyes but lowered her hand.

"Well, be mentally present next time , and I won't have to."

"Hn."

"So? How did I do?" She egged his ego on, and tempted to raise his irritation level just a tad bit higher. His face remained blank, as if bored almost, however internally he was shocked. Shocked that this half sized female he barely knew 2 weeks ago, whose never raced a day in her life, expertly drifted around a circle in less than one week. Reflecting even more, he did realize that he was her teacher, so it wasn't a complete shock she was a fast learner.

He studied her face before speaking.

"You passed the test."

Tenten's eyes grew wide with excitement, more than any other time this week. She felt her hands raise above her head and she closed her eyes, jumping up and down several times. This officially meant she was ready to race competitors.

"I did it! Oh my gosh I did it Neji!" She stopped jumping to open her eyes and peer suddenly before Neji's face; so close their noses almost touched. She smirked as he held his own emotionless gaze to hers, not moving backwards.

"And you said I couldn't do what?" She baited him again.

His irritation level rose once more. Neji rolled his eyes, finding this whole conversation bothersome. No way in hell was he going to tell her she was right and he was wrong. That would mean his bet with Naruto and Shika would have to be paid in full today.

"Hn." Neji grumbled outwardly. Not today woman. Not today.

"Leave me the hell alone. That's what you can't do.." Was the only sentence he used to answer her previous question. He sighed and walked around the still smirking girl who swiveled around staring at his retreating form headed towards the vehicle. Tenten let out a small laugh.

"It's okay. I know you're just shocked because you didn't' think I could pass this soon. Never underestimate me Hyuga." She walked until she stood beside the passenger's side of the door. She opened the door, slid in, and then closed the door while looking at Neji.

She smirked again when she saw Neji's annoyed facial expression. Take that hell.

…..

Monday

The car on Tenten's paper needed more definition to it. The tires she drew were too small, making the overall appearance of the car look unproportioned. She looked up from her paper and stared at the tall man in front of the class, who was lecturing about Japan's Kamakura period.

Ah. That's what she was supposed to do.

Tenten looked down at her paper, quickly scribbling a note in the upper right corner, reminding herself to study for the test next Friday. Zoning out her teacher once more, she focused back on the car before her. This car she drew was similar to the one she'd been driving. One whole month has passed by, and just yesterday seemed like she'd just been inducted into the group. Naruto has been the easiest one of the guys to get to know. His inviting personality and contagious smile was magnetic. Shikamaru's bored expressions, yet surpassed intellect grew on her. He was the most patient one with her. Some days when Neji wasn't available, Shikamaru took it upon himself to work with her; allow her to show him what she'd learned, critique and offer helpful tips. Sasuke's been the more distant one from the group. His presence is never felt among her, yet when Neji calls for meetings he's always present. She'd only watched him race twice; from his occasional glances at her she senses his dismissed aura.

Tenten shifted her position in her seat, resting her left hand underneath her chin, as her right held a mechanical pencil. The smell from random strands of hair against her cheeks filled her nostrils; strawberries. Her hair; drenched this morning, was now air dried with a wave pattern that cascaded against her backside stopping in the middle of her back. A small buzz came from her cellphone placed on her desk; she glanced at the screen before responding to the message.

 _From: Ino_

 _So you won't be needing a ride Friday night, right Tennie? I'm bringing a friend who's in town and need the extra seat: D_

Tenten smirked lightly and was about to reply until her phone received another buzz.

 _From: Sakura_

 _Wait so how are you getting to the race then?_

Her smirk vanished and she rolled her eyes. Why did Ino make this conversation a group message? She contemplated telling the girls her plans Friday, and how up her ass they will be about the whole situation. Ino and Sakura were always so…involved. Typing as fast as her fingers would allow, she pressed send before she could take the message back.

 _From: Tenten_

 _To: Ino, Sakura, Hinata_

 _Ino, yeah I'm sure I won't be needing a ride, thanks again though. And Sakura…..Neji's taking me._

Not even 10 seconds later, Tenten's phone vibrated repeatedly as text messages arrived. She opted to just stare at the possessed device for a good minute with a disturbed look on her face. She ignored her phone for a few more minutes, deciding to focus on her lecturing teacher, however her phone received one last buzz. She sighed and prepared to verbally assault Ino and Sakura, but paused once she saw the sender's name….

Neji…

Clipped ends of her hair moved slightly against her back as she turned her head to her right, to glance at the front of the classroom. Neji's dark hair was tied in a low ponytail at the base of his neck. She watched him for a few seconds as he eyed the board with concentration before writing something down. Tenten glanced back down to her phone.

 _From: Neji_

 _Stop texting and pay attention_

He had grown on her, very un-expectantly. They still weren't the closest, but they were better than they were one month ago. He still had anger issues and moments where he treated her like shit, but that was just Neji. One of a kind jackass. From their first week together, to a month later, times have changed. Although, her sassiness and quick temper hadn't. He told her at one point he liked her personality; rage and all.

That instant, Neji caught her gaze and his face fell as the side of his lips rose to reveal a smirk. Tenten blinked rapidly, not expecting to capture his attention, and looked away as a faint pale blush tinted her cheeks.

He liked her…

The bell rang.

Tenten finally snapped out of her thoughts and stood to put her notebook into her book bag. Everyone in the class ignored the still lecturing teacher, and packed their items, some already walking out the door. Neji stood in the doorway looking back to face a now awake Shikamaru who spoke but was drowned out from the voices of others around him. Tenten watched, book bag now over her left shoulder, as Neji, Shikamaru, and a smirking Naruto filed out of the classroom. She spoke once beside Hinata.

"Class was too long. Why can't they shorten lectures to like 30 minutes!"

The soft, quiet voice of Hinata was loud enough to capture her attention and she looked to her side. Hinata stood holding textbooks against her chest, with a soft smile on her face.

"It was only one hour..."

"I know, but I get so bored after 30 minutes."

"Y-you seem to be d-doing that a lot these days." Hinata referred to her doodled notebook, noticing her lack of class notes on her pages during class.

Tenten's eyes narrowed and snapped to the side to view Hinata, who was not paying attention. What was this? Why was she the second person to mention that? Hinata and Tenten stepped into the now bustling hallway walking side by side. She stood a full head taller than her; Hinata turned to Tenten as she spoke.

"R-ready for the test on Friday?"

"I think so, the homework we've had has covered it, are you?"

"Yes, I believe so. But I wouldn't mind studying more." Tenten nodded in agreement with her. Her next class was approaching, so she turned to Hinata before walking through the door.

"See you at lunch?" Hinata smiled and nodded her head before walking away. Tenten turned around in the doorway, only to have two faces in her sight. Ino and Sakura stood, blocking her form entering the room.

"Ah shit, come _ON_ guys, can you stop?" Tenten whined desperately. Sakura spoke next.

"Nope, because we need details!" Ino moved from Tenten's front to her side, in order to lock arms with hers. Sakura did the same and too Tenten's right arm. Tenten mentally swore inside her head. This was another reason why classes should be 30 minutes long. Now she'll be tortured for one hour.

 **…..**

 **10:13PM**

 **Wednesday Night**

Neji retreated to the backend of the garage, reaching for the handle of the refrigerator. Leaning downward to grab a juice carton, long strands of espresso hair swayed back and forth scraping against the sides of his cheeks; some strands sticking. His sweat was still amidst his porcelain skin. He'd finished racing not too long ago; first a practice session by himself, but some fool streets beyond this building took it upon themselves to challenge him, so they raced throughout Tokyo then into Bunkyo. Neji lost the guy on his way back, and he felt it was best.

Drinking from the now opened juice carton he leaned against the front of the fridge; facing a petite form stretched across the sofa. His eyes trailed her long tanned legs to her covered thighs, twisted waist, and unexposed skin hidden beneath a white t shirt, to her rising chest. He stalled as his eyes lingered upon her face. Plush cheeks held a fait color, her mouth formed a small pout. Neji felt a light grin haunt his features…

Then realized what he was doing.

Neji picked up a textbook laying on the small table in front of him and slammed it hard against the table. He was daydreaming a _little_ too much for his liking about her.

Tenten quickly rose from her slumber, alert with wide eyes scanning the room until they fell on the tall figure feet from her, leaning so casually against the fridge her anger boiled over.

"Neji what the hell was that for?! You could have given me a heart attack!" She sat up closing her eyes, placing her feet on the floor while rubbing her temple in frustration. She mumbled curse words to herself. Neji continued to casually stare at her, taking another sip from his juice carton.

Tenten opened her eyes and rose an eyebrow feeling his gaze upon her. "What do you want?"

"Why are you still here?" Tenten's eyes widened slightly as if asking herself that same question. She'd dosed off for a few seconds after finding the text in her history book looking like a foreign language. She'd been there due to the last minute calling of Neji, assembling a group meeting to discuss recent changes in the month's schedule. She was still out of the more important meetings they held; the sense that they didn't fully trust her was evident. It had only been a quick nap…

"I…don't know actually. What time is it?" She said finally meeting his stare head on.

"Ten fifteen."

"Ten fifteen? I was out cold for 3 hours?!" Neji rose an eyebrow, allowing the ballistic woman before him continue to banter.

"Why didn't anyone wake me up? God knows I-"

"Maybe because there is no one else here to wake you up." Neji stated and removed himself off the fridge, taking his gaze off of Tenten momentarily. She took the chance to study her surroundings once more, this time seeing if Neji was correct. And he was, she affirmed after eyeing the entire garage floor.

Tenten lightly rolled her eyes at the situation, mentally dismissing it. Looking at the small wooden table in front, she sighed outwardly, causing Neji to turn to her.

"Despite knowing what time it is, you're still here.." Tenten's head shot up and her lip rose in annoyance. She wasn't in the mood for his poking game, not tonight especially. Neji now stood on the opposite side of the wooden table with a bored expression.

"Fine, I'll go." She rolled her eyes, and began gathering loose papers atop the table, shoving them with some force into specific textbooks. Visibly agitated, the stress of upcoming tests, homework, and practice sessions wore her thin. Grabbing her backpack on the floor beside the sofa, she held it open, depositing the materials on the table into it.

Neji didn't expect her to not put up a fight. He quickly tried to clean up his last statement.

"No, I wasn't saying that in particular…you are more than welcomed to stay Tenten." The sound of her name escaping his lips stilled her form momentarily before she laid her backpack against the cold concrete slab.

Her voice came low, quiet, and Neji lifted an eyebrow in concern.

"I…I was about to leave anyway."

"What is bothering you? Your attention was put elsewhere in the meeting earlier." His gaze shifted to her backpack on the ground, then back to her averting eyes.

"Your mind is not present."

Tenten thought before answering. She didn't want to sound like she was complaining, now having a spot on his team. But racing did add to her stress, and it was becoming harder to keep afloat in schoolwork, studying, and tests. But the biggest offset happened to be the realization of the college entrance exams. Although advertised throughout the past few weeks, Tenten just found out last weekend. During lunch on Monday, Hinata asked if she wanted to study with her Ino, and Sakura Saturday. Grateful she accepted feeling some way calm. Tenten didn't honestly know what she wanted to do after graduation, however, she wanted to at least have the opportunity to decide if she wanted to go to a university or not, and if she did, she would've taken & passed the necessary tests. So getting a passing score on the exam was her only option, and studying for it amongst other upcoming tests classes was beginning to seem impossible. Rather than admitting a detailed description of her off behavior, she replied shortly.

"I'm just stressed is all." Neji's eyes lingered on her. He knew she didn't want to talk about what was going on, so he left her alone, not poking anymore. Her life had become fuller since being a part of his team; less time was spent at her house, he noticed she stayed at the garage more. Adjusting to more responsibilities was evidently a large struggle for her, but he had faith she'd learn to balance it all. They all had to learn so she was no different in his eyes..

Tenten's stare into the unknown captured her attention, placing a subtle frown on her face and a tensed posture.

 _But yet…_

Her eyes glossed with an unreadable emotion,

… _she was.._

Then snapped out of her daze, she met his stare.

"Let's go."

His voice sounded more as a command than a question; he left her without an alternative choice. Tenten tilted her head to the side; curiosity now roaming her features.

"Go where?" Neji closed the fridge behind him, after placing the juice carton inside, and casually shoved his hands in his pockets. Eyes traveled behind Tenten and his head nodded in its direction.

Tenten turned to peer over the sofa before looking back at Neji.

"What, drive?" Neji jingled a set of keys in his pocket; slipping Tenten's stare off his face and onto his pocket. He walked slowly around the table as if stalling waiting for her to arise.

Neji's body was relaxed, yet gave the attitude of nonchalance, seeming unbothered with her curiousness. His facial expression remained unbothered and slightly bored.

"You said you were stressed. Why not take a ride." Tenten remained still, lost in thought. She did need to study in order to catch up on what was needed. However…racing does sound good.

A small smile slowly formed, taking the place of the frown she wore. Rising with new motivation and a refreshed mind, she walked around the sofa and towards the array of sports cars that were previously behind her.

"Which one are we taking?" She asked with excitement, pausing her steps waiting for Neji to approach beside her.

"Who said anything about sharing a car?" Tenten's eyes grew wide as she turned to her left looking upwards. Neji stared downwards, eyes locked with hers before he removed a key from his pocket. He watched her eyes shift onto the key he was holding in the air. They shifted some due to the breeze from the outside; the garage doors were up, the stiff, dull leveled buildings across the street dark and unoccupied.

Tenten's smile grew. Snatching the key from his hand, she turned quickly lightly running to a car parked toward the front of the garage; the red one she'd been eyeing for several weeks and asked Neji to drive in, yet he shut her down. But tonight she had the choice.

Tenten slammed the driver's door after her settlement inside the vehicle and starting the car. She looked over to her left, spotting Neji in his classic black mustang. His windows were down, and the color of the interior and exterior car complimented his pale skin and expression. One that was slightly unreadable to him. Neji knew there was no point in speaking over the sound of the engines, so he revved his car and slammed the gas pedal down, causing his car to skid into the street and within seconds, down to the nearest stop sign.

Tenten smiled and followed suit, pressing the gas pedal underneath her foot, and swiftly turning the steering wheel to the right, speeding down the street. Neji held his hand out of his window, signaling Tenten to come beside him. When she pulled up beside his car, his long gaze sent shivers down her spine. In the night, his features were the best because of the way the moon struck him. A faint smirk ghosted his face as he stared at her before speaking.

"Down for a _**Tori to neko**_ game?" Tenten titled her head to the familiar phrase. Bird and Cat game, a game where Neji was the cat and she the bird. Neji chased her throughout the city, drove fearlessly behind her, until he tapped the bumper of her car; then the roles would be reversed. He became the bird and Tenten the cat. She smiled widely, accepting his challenge.

Neji's smirk came into full view across his face, "Hn."

In a second Neji was already down the next street, white smoke left behind and the sound of a faint engine filled her ears. Tenten laughed mentally and shifted gears, once again slamming her foot on the gas pedal, and she too, was off into the night.

...

 **11:30PM**

 **Sunday**

Neji lazily nodded his head for what seemed to be the fifteenth time; the clearly intoxicated woman standing before him was flirting with him in a tacky way. He came to the edge of the parking lot to take a mental break from the chaos called drifting. After finishing a cigarette, he grabbed a cold beer and sat along a rail, minding his own business. This woman approached, and he let her stay, considering her conversation to be background noise in his mind. His eyes reached a certain bun haired female far away. Her smile glowed underneath the lights of the parking lot. She wore a simple black cropped top and grey cargo pants that hug loosely around her waist. His thoughts were interrupted by the woman before him when she laughed high pitch. Earning her a glare and a cold expression. One hand in his black denim, the other brought the cold beer to his lips. _Taiti, was_ the name of the woman, he'd met several times before. They did have a brief hookup together, but it wasn't anything worth dwelling on. He tolerated her in her drunken states; most times out of perhaps slight sympathy. Perhaps. Said woman began to grab onto Neji's black, short sleeved t shirt, receiving a hand slap from Neji, who swatted her hand off him. She was a little too handsy tonight..

Tenten finally caught her breath after laughing so hard from a story Naruto was sharing with the group. It was long after Neji's race, and the small group was gathered beside their cars. He raced well tonight, beating his competition by 10 seconds. Tenten turned her head to her side, breaking her attention from the group to scan the area for Neji. She wanted to talk to him about something..

She sighed when she couldn't find him, then turned to face the group again. All was going well until a deep, foreign voice, reached her ears.

"Long time no see, Panda-chan."

The group stopped chatting, turning their attention to the intruder of their space.

Tenten slowly turned around to the hovering figure before her. His pale skin and odd, haunting, smile brought memories of their last encounter to mind. This man still sent cold chills to her bone, however outwardly she stood with confidence, eyeing him with a serious expression.

"I haven't seen you in so long, I was beginning to think I scared you away." Orochimaru stated with a tone of mocked sadness, while smirking widely. There was snickering from behind him, validating that his group members were present.

Tenten's voice was cold, lacking every emotion, even annoyance.

"Takes more than a kiddie punch to scare me away." Orochimaru's eyes narrowed some and part of his smirk disappeared. He leaned downward until his face was a mere inch away from hers. She stayed in place, resting her hands on her hips as her eyebrows slanted deeper into her face. His height an advantage for him, as Tenten lifted hers to see his face.

"I see that mouth of yours is still unclean. Why on earth would Hyuga still keep such an unfiltered creature around him?" A corner of Tenten's lip rose in disgust as she remembered their previous conversation.

"Maybe she's fu-!"

"Shut the fuck up!" Tenten sliced through Deidara's comment before he could even finish. He narrowed his eyes from behind Orochimaru. ' _Coward'_ Tenten thought briefly before returning her glare to Orochimaru.

"Perhaps Neji keeps me around because I'm an asset to his team."

Orochimaru's face lit up in amusement; his smile widened from ear to ear. "His team? You're a member of his team now are you?" Intrigued, he leaned back down and licked his lips. Tenten reeled her head back this time.

"We are going to have a fun time together Panda-chan." He whispered, trying to intimidate her.

"Indeed, we will." Tenten fought the shiver that was about to come over her body.

"What the hell do you want." Neji's deep, baritone voice cut through their conversation, as his eyes were lowly set. His entrance into it shifted the atmosphere, as Orochimaru leaned away from Tenten's face and smirked wider than before while looking at Neji. Tenten eyed him and Neji back and forth.

"Firstly to congratulate you on your win tonight."

Neji's expression didn't falter as he blinked smoothly and took a sip from the bottle in his hand, eyes remaining on Orochimaru.

"That's not the only reason you're here." Neji observed.

Before answering Neji, Orochimaru's eyes hovered over Tenten.

"You're right. I propose a race." Shikamaru rose an eyebrow; something didn't sound right about this.

"It's about fucking time." Neji stated.

"Tenten verses my racer Kin." Neji tried his best to not choke on the liquid in his mouth, not out of humor but just shock. Ino and Sakura remained quiet, but Naruto managed to spit out water. Tenten raised an eyebrow at Orochimaru, who finally took his gaze off her and placed it onto Neji. Neji remained staring at Orochimaru, momentarily stunned.

"She tells me she's apart of your team now. And I want to see what skills she has besides that mouth of hers." Tenten looked back at Orochimaru to narrow her eyes before looking at Neji. She had been practicing for over a month now. She proved she was good enough to race since passing the circle test. However, Neji has yet to book her a race. That's what she wanted to speak to him today about. After watching him race tonight, it dawned on her how she's yet to. This was her chance, it would be her first race, and a spot for her reputation to grow. It was a bonus it was against a member of Orochimaru's team. She wanted to prove, ultimately to herself that she can race, drift, beat her competition. Neji _had_ to think she was ready or else she wouldn't be here tonight.

Then next word sent shock all over Tenten's face, shock she didn't mask.

"No." Orochimaru smirked, expecting the answer from Neji, but also at Tenten's face after glancing at it.

"Wait…w..what do you mean no?" Neji's calculating eyes traveled to Tenten's eyes. Her tone was small, yet slightly strong. The hurt in her eyes he saw but chose to ignore it.

"Don't question me." The superiority of his voice, stance, and facial expression told her to back off and not question him as a leader. Neji had a reason for doing everything he did, the way he did. She had yet to still sub come to his type of structure. Tenten eyes widened briefly before narrowing more.

Orochimaru chuckled. "I tried Panda-chan, but looks like Neji doesn't think you're good enough to race." He snickered, as did his other group members. "Sounds like you're more of a liability than an asset."

Too distracted to comeback, her eyes remained on Neji's face. Disbelief written on her features, she spoke before stopping herself.

"Is that true Neji?...You don't think I'm ready to race?" She needed to know what the holdup was. Why did he slam down the opportunity for her to race? It had very little to do with a small chance Kin was too strong for her, but more so to do with..other factors..

Neji heard her small voice, and this time it wasn't as strong as before. He chose his words calculative, appearing with a demeanor of control and sharpness. His cold stare rested on Orochimaru.

"Going after a new racer for more wins under your name is low. Even for you." Tenten's mouth slowly opened in agape, while Orochimaru's face faltered some, leaving a half smirk.

"Very well. I was being considerate. Don't expect an offer like that to come again." Orochimaru shrugged his shoulders and turned around feet walking through is small group.

"I'll take it."

Sakura gasped slightly, as Shikamaru closed his eyes and sighed, over the situation. Neji's eyes narrowed and shifted to Tenten.

Orochimaru stopped walking. His group turned to look at Tenten.

"Take what?" Kami, she could do without the creepiness of voice; she rolled her eyes. He wanted her to say it again on purpose.

"I said I'll take it…I'll race Kin. Set the place, date, and time." Orochimaru's smirk returned to his face, although his back was still turned to her.

"Alright. It's a deal. You'll race Kin Next Sunday at 11PM. The place…..I'll get back with Neji on that." He continued to walk through his group and disappear into the large crowd in the parking lot. Filing after Orochimaru one by one, his members left as well.

The whole group was still silent, and with good intention because Neji looked pissed. Not his ordinary pissed expression, but one Tenten had never seen. Her hands left her hips long ago, but she placed one on her hip again.

"What _the hell_ did you just do?"

There was a small distance between her and Neji, and she closed it within seconds. Her eyes narrowing deeply and anger traced her features this time. Neji's ice cold, dark expression was not intimidating her tonight.

"What did _**I**_ do? _**I**_ just looked out for myself and got a race! _**I**_ believed in myself more than my own damn leader and accepted a competition! _**I**_ practiced for over a month, passed the circle test in one week, and haven't had shit to show for it but being placed on the sidelines! _**I**_ know you didn't let Naruto or Shikamaru sit out this long to race, but only with me! _**You**_ are scared that I'll embarrass you! _**You**_ don't think I can race!"

Tenten threw her hands in the air. " **WHY THE HELL AM I EVEN ON YOUR TEAM IF YOU DON'T TRUST ME**!" An idea formed, she paused, bringing her hands down to her side and instantly looked up at Neji with a blank expression. Then, the emotions returned.

"You know what Neji?" She said to a slightly eye widened Neji, who's mouth was shut the entire rant. She placed a finger in the air and shook her head.

"Fuck you. I'm done." Tenten walked away from Neji, making sure to bump her shoulder into hers on purpose.

"But Tenten where are you going! Neji was your ride!" Tenten ignored Sakura's comment and walked around several people, before approaching a random guy who was sitting on his hood smoking a cigarette. He turned to look at the exotic girl in fornt of him.

"Can you take me home?" She asked smiling a flirty smile, one that rose Ino and Sakura's eyebrows. One that made Naruto smirk and Shikamaru's eyes widen. One that made Neji's blood boil.

"Tenten!" Neji called out. Tenten turned her head up to see Neji, who she then flipped off, and walked to the passenger side door of the random guy's car, opening it quickly. Neji stood there in slight shock, trying to process what was happening. Before he knew it, the silver Mazda with tinted black windows sped off, exiting the parking lot and disappearing after making a right turn.

"You ruined that shit." Everyone turned to face Naruto. He looked around confused.

"What? That wasn't me!"

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed. "You need to fix this shit fast Hyuga." He leaned off his car for the first time since Orochimaru approached, and tugged on Ino's hand, insinuating their time to leave was now. Neji made a small grunt and chugged the last of his beer.

If she didn't want to be a part of his team anymore, then fine. This was what he wanted, wasn't it? It's true he did drag out accepting a race in her name, because he wanted her to lose interest in racing. He honestly didn't want her on his team, not because she was really good, but…..he really didn't know why he wanted to her off his team. Shikamaru knew. He knew she challenged him, not through racing but in all other areas of his life. Since her coming into his world he's lost control of what he's been used to. He doesn't like change. But after the way things went tonight…he felt it. Deep down, he knew he was wrong, and wanted her around.

Damn, Heaven.

Heaven-4 Hell-2

Miss me? I know you all missed the story lol, sorry for the lonnngggggg disappearance! But I'm back, and back on track! See you all in a couple weeks! No, not months, or another year, but a few weeks lol. Love ya!

PS: Be sure to add this story to alerts if you haven't already! And why not review or add this story to your favorites! :3


	7. Tenten

**9:12AM**

 **Tuesday**

Tenten's grip on her History textbook tightened as she lingered onto a forming thought in her mind. _What if she wasn't good enough?_ The self-doubt began consuming her the previous day and lasted up until this very moment. Speaking with Ino, Sakura, and Hinata last night over the phone settled the feeling, if only for a moment. However, with time, seeped back into her mind.

Tenten stepped into the half full classroom of students, most standing around desks, and made her way to an open desk towards the back. Hinata wasn't here today; had she been Tenten would've sat beside her again. It's been over a day since her last conversation with Neji. Sakura informed Tenten of the group meeting among the guys yesterday night, a clear indicator that she wasn't on the team anymore. It wasn't like she _said_ she quit, just that she was done. Done with Neji's bullshit. Not her fault he took it literal and personal, basically banning her from entering their garage, and conversing with the other members. He was just a stuck up jerk.

Tenten rested her sharpened pencil on her desk, alongside the small notebook she'd laid out moments before. She settled into her seat and placed her backpack strap over the back of her seat. Glancing at the board, she jotted down several notes posted.

 _ **Today is Tuesday,**_

 _Quiz-Thursday/ Can use notes_

 _Study Session 4:30 Wednesday._

Not that she was doing anything anymore since she wasn't on the team. She sighed outwardly before turning her head to a voice beside her.

"Haven't spoken to you in a long time," The husky, leveled voice almost whispered. Leaned slightly to speak to Tenten, Kiba smirked when she looked up at him. Tenten smiled lightly.

"It has been a while, how are you Kiba?" Kiba's smirk widened, proud at their sudden conversion. She'd been hard to talk with since hanging around Neji..

"I'm doing well, minus the ass kicking test we just had Monday, I'm still in recovery." Tenten laughed at his mocked, tired expression, and smiled.

"It wasn't as bad as I thought, I could've done worse." Considering the hellish weekend she had, she really could've, but pulling off an 81 was acceptable for her.

"That makes one of us," Kiba sighed. "So what brings you to the back? Don't you always sit close to Hyuga and Nara?" Kiba pointed in their direction.

Tenten's back stiffened noticeably and Kiba drew an eyebrow in curiosity. Tenten turned her head away from Kiba momentarily, before finding the right words. With a mustered small smile she simply stated,

"Well, I wanted to sit somewhere different for a while. We'll see how long I'm back here, depending on how you act." She smirked genuinely. Kiba returned her smirk and twisted back around to face the front of the class, where their teacher presently stood, calling off the names on the attendance sheet. She as well turned her head to the teacher, then back down to her paper, preparing to doodle. Gently sketching a small circle, she paused, feeling eyes on her.

Neji unknowingly glared in Tenten's direction, not necessarily at her…but the _mutt_ beside her. He watched before as they conversed briefly, taking notice of the small smile and comfortable demeanor Kiba was able to extract from her. Today was the second day she sat near Kiba, not that Neji was keeping count, he was just…observing.

Neji grunted slightly before returning his eyes to the front of the classroom, scanning the new lines of information of the board. Their History Teacher made emphasis on a short sentence they'd see again during their upcoming quiz, telling them to write it down. Neji however, opted to return to his thoughts.

Last Night was his teams' first meeting since Sunday, Shikamaru advised him to call for one. Not much was talked about besides the conversation he'd been dreading.

 _Flashback_

" _What are you going to do about Tenten, Neji?" Shikamaru spoke first, knowing none of the others were going to. Neji sat in his black chair positioned in front of the wooden desk in the office in the garage. Neji turned his narrowed eyes to Shikamaru, wanting to curse him out._

" _You think I have a clue? Since you're so invested why don't you think of a damn solution." Neji folded his arms across his chest and leaned back into the chair, as if egging Shikamaru into his argument. Nara is wiser than that however and countered Neji's comment with a question._

" _Should I wipe that thing called guilt off your face, and your ass for you as well?" Naruto's eyes widened as he chuckled, Sasuke just smirked and Neji firmly glared at Shikamaru._

" _Fuck you Nara. I'm not going to apologize to Tenten. I don't see what I did wrong." Neji stated stubbornly._

" _But you_ _ **did**_ _do something wrong! You know you were holding out on her races on purpose Neji." Naruto spoke up, causing Neji to throw his glare at him._

" _All I'm saying is you need to make this right. Tenten is an awesome racer from what I've witnessed. You'd be a fool to not get her back Neji."_

" _He already is one from where I'm standing." Sasuke spoke for the first time during their meeting. Neji was about to reject that comment but Sasuke continued speaking._

" _You don't want her here because she challenges all parts of you. You're not use to a person like her and getting rid of her is your mechanism for dealing with it. You always get rid of people, hence the many woman you've been through. Running away from change just makes you less likely to accept opportunities. If you don't take them, someone else will. Keep treating her like shit if you want Orochimaru to have her on his team." Naruto's face was stunned, and Shikamaru smirked, concluding he could not have stated that any better._

 _Sasuke just exposed all of Neji, who sat there in silence. Sasuke shrugged his shoulders._

" _I've got dinner plans with Sakura. Talk tomorrow." He walked out as calmly as he entered, hands in pocket and blank expression plastered upon his face. Naruto took this as an opportunity to leave as well, leaving only Shikamaru in Neji's presence._

 _Neji sighed deeply and placed both elbows on the wooden table, slipping his face into his hands. Shikamaru eyed his stressed friend, understanding his resistance._

" _Let go of your pride and ask her to join us again." Nara walked towards the door, opened it, and left Neji alone to wallow in his thoughts._

 _End of Flashback_

Neji sat still, reflecting the events that led him to this moment. He had not planned for this _one_ girl to stress him out like this. To wreck his whole system of control, to make him question his motives. The power this one girl had could disrupt his train of thought. Watching her drive away Sunday, with a complete stranger irritated him so. He'd never been so…protective over a female before. And Tenten and he aren't even dating. If he asked her to rejoin his team, he wouldn't have to hear from his friends about the situation anymore. All of this came down to one moment. The moment of deciding what to do. He'd been contemplating it the last day, but right now, Neji decided to actually go through with his choice. He _could_ let go of his pride, he just didn't want to.

But which was _worth more_?...

 _His pride…._

The bell rang, causing Neji to exit his thoughts and reenter reality. Had one hour passed that quickly? He heard a faint sound he knew all too well and turned his head to the side. Tenten stood, laughing with Kiba as she placed materials in her backpack. She then removed the strap from the seat and placed it on her left shoulder. Kiba walked forward until he reached the end of the isle, speaking something to Tenten as she neared him so they could walk together. As they did, Tenten's eyes slipped to gaze at Neji. Their stare lingered for a little before Tenten looked away, focusing them on Kiba. They continued to walk out of the classroom, Neji's gaze unknowingly following them into-

"Your mask is slipping." Shikamaru broke Neji's thoughts, as he stood beside him. Neji made a face before commenting. He quickly stood to gather his materials, then slipped his backpack strap over his shoulder. Walking near Nara, he finally murmured with an annoyed expression,

"Mind your own fucking business." Causing Shikamaru to smirk in response.

… _Or her?_

 **1:38PM**

 **Tuesday**

Tenten tapped her foot impatiently with a sour facial expression. Standing in front of a hallway water fountain, she looked down the hallway to see if anyone was coming. Not a person was in sight due to classes being in session. She had received a message a while ago stating to come outside her class, the matter was urgent. Under normal circumstances she would've ignored the message but, considering the text came from Neji…she was slightly open to what he might have to say. They hadn't spoken since Sunday night….

She looked back down at her phone, concluding she'd been standing there for 3 minutes now, she chose to leave. Tenten unfolded her arms across her chest and sighed deeply, rolling her eyes at her own stupidity. Why on earth did she think he would apologize to her? Better yet, why was she expecting an apology from the king of all assholes?

Shaking her head she made a step forward, until she felt a tight grasp around her left forearm, then a tug that sent her body shifting into the opposite direction she was going. As soon as she turned her head around to see who pulled her, she quickly caught a glimpse of a strong, masculine hand, one she recognized.

"Neji, where are you taking m-!"

She was suddenly shoved into a small closet with him, lights flickering on once Neji tugged the switch by the door. He shut it after them; Tenten's eyebrow rose in question when she watched him lock the door. Before speaking, she studied him. He seemed….off. The way he paced back and forth before weaving a hand through his tamed dark hair, then casting his gaze upon her. She almost forgot she was mad at him. Almost.

"Neji, why are we in this closet again?"

Despite his appearance, Neji's voice remained leveled and deep.

"I needed to speak with you Tenten."

She folded her arms across her chest once again. "Well I'm listening." She wasn't going to make this easy for him. This task of not only admitting he was wrong, but also apologizing. Two things he didn't believe in doing. Kami it was hot in the closet; he tugged on the nape of his shirt before clearing his throat.

"I….Sunday wasn't how I envisioned it to be. I pictured more of an effortless, easy going night." He met her eyes briefly before she shifted hers among the floor again. He continued to stare at her, taking in her features. The light red line on her nose trailed to her cheeks. Her strawberry scented hair scattered across her back and several strands brazed her shoulders. Light brown eyes held his gaze once more, her light coming through them in a translucent way. He swallowed before continuing. What was the matter with him?

"Orochimaru startled me…I didn't expect him to speak directly to you…or you engage in a conversation with him."

"I can handle myself Neji, I'm not a child." He smirked slightly at her comment.

"I know you can. I've been choosing to undermine your talents, ignoring your skills. As a leader I haven't been the best with you." Tenten's gaze staid resting upon Neji's.

"I've made a lot of mistakes, making decisions I knew better than to do. In the end it caused you to turn away from something you've grown to love. I don't want to stand in the way of you becoming your best. You do add something to this team, something I've been trying not to see because its challenged me. Aside from my personal indifference with you, I have no problems with you. The group sees you as one of theirs, and I stand by my team."

Tenten's eyes were wide. That was not what she expected Neji to say. She was stunned, and he had her right where he wanted her.

"With all that I've said, Tenten, I want to ask if you wanted to come back to the team. We need you." Tenten felt a small smile form across her face.

"Wow…that must have taken you all two days to come up with." Neji's face fell and his eyes narrowed.

Tenten snickered. "All that talking and you still haven't said the one thing I wanted to hear." Neji paused and reflected. He did say everything he needed to, covered all his bases, what else could he possibly-

"No."

"No what?"

"I'm not saying it."

"How bad do you want me on your team Neji?" She baited him.

"You're the one who needs a car to race with on Sunday." Neji's monotone voice sounded her eardrums like a gong. Her face fell, considering his comment.

"But you're the one who'll regret not having me."

He raised an eyebrow challenging that statement. "Oh, will I?"

Tenten rolled her eyes dramatically. "Will you just apologize Neji? You know you were dead ass wrong!"

"Alright, if it shuts you the hell up I'm sorry." His voice faded out towards the end of the sentence.

"You're what?"

"I'm sorry." Tenten smiled thoughtfully. She knew that it took a lot out of Neji to apologize. That wasn't a strong point of his he mad practice of doing often. His demeanor changed slightly after those words left his lips. His shoulders sat up more and his back straightened. He visibly appeared more relaxed, palms at a still against his legs, and eyes meeting Tenten's. In them she saw the tiny shadowing of a distant emotion; fear. Then within a second, it had disappeared, leaving an emotionless expression on his features. He blinked, and shifted his body closer to Tenten's, causing her eyes to widen in surprise. What was he doing? She didn't understand his movements now, stepping backwards until her backside collided with a wall. Nowhere else to hide, she watched as he stood towering over her; just inches apart. She felt his breath cloud her atmosphere, his scent faint, filled her air passage as well.

Neji stared into Tenten's bright, colored, brown eyes, noting the confusion she wore on her face. Some part of him found calmness in her brown orbs, and he allowed his body to tense less. He slowly leaned his head downward towards her face, strands of ebony hair falling off his shoulders and swaying in-between his and Tenten's face. Swallowing in her plush nose, closed lips, and pink tinted cheeks, he let his eyes haze slightly _. He'd been here before but not like this._

 _He'd been here before but not with her…not like this…_

… _ **..**_

 **11:14 PM**

 **Saturday**

Sakura wrapped her right hand around Sasuke's hand, which sat on her shoulder. His right arm was draped across her body, while his other hand pressed deeper into his pocket. Sakura's pastel pink hair was clamped up with black hair pins. Settling for a disheveled appearance, she left some strands down to cup her face. Her emerald eyes met with a deep blue pair, and she felt her cheeks fluster, swallowing the lump in her throat. Sakura's long, over-sized shirt rose slightly when she turned her head upward to view Sasuke. It was a borrowed top from said man, who approved of its length long before hand. The over-sized top stopped mid-thigh on Sakura, revealing a lot of skin before stopping at her black and white Adidas shoes. Emerald eyes met deep blue eyes, and she smiled. Sasuke merely smirked down at his girlfriend, planting a soft kiss atop her pink head.

Sakura was nervous for Tenten's race. The past few nights she'd been practicing like nothing else mattered. Racing Neji, Naruto, and even Sasuke in different sports cars, better adjusting to different types of cars. Her nerves hit at its highest point last night, while studying with Ino, Hinata, and herself. Tenten voiced how uncertain she was, questioning her choice. However, they all encouraged Tenten she was more than ready for this moment, speaking against her own doubts. Tonight, this very moment would determine how much she believed in herself, in her skills. It would determine her start status in the racing world of drifting. Tonight was her moment, and she was so proud of the girl before her risking herself. Tenten had stepped into all their lives less than 2 months ago, challenging the entirety of the group without even knowing it. Sakura felt a small boost of motivation when Tenten came around, motivation telling her she could do anything, and go for it. Don't hold back on yourself, and failing is acceptable. Sakura was unsure of Tenten affected everyone else, but she knew she impact her. In the smallest way possible.

Sakura smiled faintly at Tenten from across the scenery.

Tenten gripped the steering wheel tighter while lost in thought staring through the window shield in front of her. She sat still, doors closed on either side, tinted windows blocking the small crowd that lined against both sides of her silver sports car, ignoring the noise surrounding her. The sports car sat in a deserted parking garage with 12 stories. Perfect for drifting, however slightly complicated for competition. Seeing as how the only opportunity to speed in front the competition was to swipe them out once at ground level. Neji told her, according to Orochimaru, both females would have to exit out from the parking garage, circle the building, and then come back inside and race upwards until atop. She swallowed an unknown existing lump in her throat, lightly tapping her slender fingers against the wheel.

This was really about to happen. She was really about to have her first race. Kami, she'd practiced so hard for not just this moment, but all the other races coming after it. After her invite back to the team, she'd been practicing again, every night since Tuesday. Valuable comments and advice plagued her mind, as she swallowed yet another lump in her throat. She could do this, she'd got this. It's what she grew to love, not knowing how she'd existed prior to racing. There was nothing like the drive, feeling free.

She blinked, shifting her thought onto Neji, who appeared just as tense as she was.

Neji paced the small, thin space before the cleared pavement, back facing the surprising large crowd the race had drawn. Considering the race was with one of Orochimaru's drivers, an audience was inevitable. He'd known about Kin for a while, her ability to race came noticed one night while he'd visited a no- name competition. She'd been a part of Orochimaru's crew for a little over one year, the only girl to have been known to exist on his team. Neji's arms were folded across his chest; a thoughtful expression graced his facial features. Kin was not going to be an easy competitor for Tenten, but Tenten has grown to be fierce over the month. Her personality is slowing beginning to show through her her racing style. The practices she's had with him should aid in her success, but ultimately, it was on Tenten to showcase her abilities and win.

 _She could do this,_

Neji's eyes pierced through the front window of Tenten's car, locking eyes with her instantly. She gave a short nod, as did he in response. Suddenly, his eyes shifted to the right of her car, following a black sports car, with rolled down windows and kanji white letters spray-painted all over its body. In his opinion it looked tacky, but it wasn't his teammate. Neji's lip rose slightly in disgust as metal music blared from inside. The woman in the driver's seat turned to eye Tenten from her car. Bright red hair vividly cascaded down her neck, several strands wrapping themselves around her forehead. Sticking their due to the light beads of sweat that accumulated moments before. She had piercing brown eyes, and wore a wicked smirk. Tenten's upper lip twitched; her smirk bore resemblance to Orochimaru's. Tenten rolled her eyes. She wasn't going to give this red head her focus. She was ready.

Tenten turned her head to face the small narrow grey path before her. Yards away was a sharp right, which would spin into a winding pathway down towards the bottom. She had one chance to pass Kin. Tenten's fingers loosened the steering wheel slightly then gripped it tight again.

A tall, slender Japanese woman appeared in front of her car and walked to stand in between her and kin's cars. Her long brunette hair swayed as she almost tripped in her 7 inch stilettos. Tenten's windows lowered all the way down; she accepted the air that was about to comfort her. It was more crisp than normal, not as muggy. Several strands of loose hair blew against her cheeks. In Japanese the woman spoke, she paused after stated a few words and signaled her hand at Kin. Kin turned to Tenten and shouted loudly in English, "You ready to die bitch!" Tenten's eyes narrowed as she kept her vision on the Japanese woman, however from the corner of her eye she could see Kin flicking her off. Kin was becoming quite annoying. The woman spoke again in Japanese, this time signaling her hand towards Tenten. Slightly unsure, Tenten said nothing however revved her engine loudly.

Neji smirked at her message. Unbeknownst to Tenten, the woman asked for last remarks or comments from each competitor. Tenten revving her engine loudly couldn't have been a better response. Kin growled lowly, not pleased with Tenten's lack of attention on her. She placed a hand on the steering wheel, and sat the other on her gear shift, tapping her fingers anxiously. In one blink of an eye, the Japanese woman nodded and smiled, making sure to stand directly in between the two girls cars.

"Itchi!" The time and motion around Tenten slowed down.

"Ni!" Kin's metal music grew fainter to Tenten's hearing…

"…SAN!"

In a blink of an eye, both girls took off before the Japanese model could take another breath; her skirt and hair blowing from the wind caused by the speeding cars. The screaming of the crowd rose as the wheels from the cars rotated, leaving behind a nervous Ino, Smiling Naruto, and expressionless faced Neji.

The lights above the cars became shooting stars once Tenten's foot slammed on the gas pedal. The people along the sides were blurs, and the rushing sound from the wind beat against her eardrums, or was that the sound of her heart beating in her chest? She didn't know, and switched gears as she approached the first corner. She drifted effortlessly just as she had practiced; making sure not to kiss the large concrete post just centimeters away. Kin's blaring metal music could be heard, as Tenten peeked in her rear view mirror, she saw the red head bashing her head along with the tunes. Perhaps playing music provided Kin with a calmness she needed that helped her focus. Kin stuck her tongue out at Tenten, she in return narrowed her eyes choosing to focus her vision on the slim narrow path before her. The sound of loud engines echoed the parking level, and within a few seconds, she and Kin were no longer in sight of the crowd. They'd slipped down to the sixth level. Another turn approached, and Tenten felt her hands naturally shift gears again, slam the breaks, and drift around the left corner. Kin's sports car hovered closely beside Tenten's, almost touching the passenger side. Along the beginning decent downwards into the fifth level, Tenten felt Kin kissing the back end of her car, grunting each time she did and glaring daggers in her rear view mirror towards Kin. Kin however, was testing her limits with Tenten, seeing how close of an impact she could have with Tenten; and kin smirked. All of a sudden there was a loud sound coming from behind Tenten. She took her eyes off the road, and saw Kin ignite a new switch, thrusting her car into Tenten's. Tenten spun around the coming corner with quickness, placing her slightly off the path and allowing Kin to pass by her paused car.

As if in slow motion, Tenten slowly blinked and met eyes with Kin, who rose her middle finger out the driver's window while yelling. Tenten's hands still on her steering wheel, all she could do was watch as kin passed her by, leaving her car paused in the empty parking spaces before the corner Kin turned. Tenten's face remained in shock, however fell once she snapped out of the trance. She put her car in reverse to speed out of the row of parking spots, and shifted into drive, swearing underneath her breath. This was going to be a wild night to say the least.

 **…**

Neji remained in silence, as he stood with both hands in his jean pockets. His loosely fitted olive green V neck clung to his torso and escaped along his back; the wind blowing his scent across the parking garage. The crowd migrated to the top garage floor, as usual, it was an open floor that overlooked the night city. The parking garage used to be attached to an old shopping center, however became abandoned in the late 90's and has been vacant with its parking garage. Neji ignored the long strands of ebony hair the slapped his cheeks constantly. His lips were thin, and his temper short, the last thing he needed was for someone to approach him. He was focusing on the sounds coming from the cars, the race. He could pick up different engine sounds, when a car would pause, or when it would be revved. He could hear for skidding sounds along the concrete as tires stopped thanks to the echoes and his good hearing. This was the only way of knowing how the race was going, for there were no cameras or recordings on phones allowed. Neji sighed outwardly, then felt a hand rest on his left shoulder. His eyes cut across to see who was in his space.

"She's going to do fine Neji, you should relax." Shikamaru's voice provided momentary solace. Neji nodded his head short to acknowledge what he said. Shikamaru shook his head and rose his other hand to his lips, cupping the narrow slim, before puffing smoke out into the night air. He knew Neji wouldn't relax at all. Not until the race was over. Suddenly, he heard screeching down below and spoke.

"Sounds like they're about to come out." He shifted his eyes to the edge of the parking garage. The crowd also ran over to the edges of the parking level, looking downwards to see the cars race their lap once around the whole building before reaching the first garage floor again and making their way up to the twelfth floor. Neji walked closer to the edge, peering down with a stone face.

 **….**

Tenten's foot slammed the brake pedal as she spun her steering wheel as far as it could go left. The back end of her car moved and exited the ground level, then sped forward. Kin, who remained in the lead was in front of her, switching gears at the moment. Tenten took the opportunity to step on the gas pedal harder, ripping past Kin along the side of the building. She smirked as she heard her scream over the music, and turned another corner while shifting gears. Her car revved louder as she sped towards the other side, completing nearly 75 percent of the lap. Kin slipped beside Tenten, forcing her way into the lead momentarily, before drifting side by side again around the last corner, approaching the garage opening. Tenten decided to take a chance, and smash the side of her car into Kin's, throwing Kin's car off track before adjusting. Tenten entered the garage first, thus earning a loud scream from Ino and Sakura. Aggravated and running impatient, Kin picked up speed and sped into the garage level, determined to beat the brat who's in her way.

It'd been over two minutes entirely since the race started. Neji untied both arms from against his chest to glance down at his wrist watch. They should be up to here any second, any. He took his left hand and slid it through his loose hair; his nerves getting to him. Trying to relax, he took the offered slim from Shikamaru and drew in the nicotine, welcoming the comfort that came with it. Loud engines were heard below the level, suggesting the girls were right below them. Screeching could be heard, more engine sounds, until finally-

Neji pulled the slim away from his parted lips, his eyes were slightly wide with an unreadable expression plastered against his face. The whole crowd atop the garage drew in breaths, waiting for the winner to reveal themselves, as the first racer came from below. And moments later there they were, pulling up from the lower level, a black, slightly beat up sport cars slowly sped forward, stopping a few yards away from the entrance.

Tenten's breath was stuck in her throat. Her hands remained on the steering wheel, while her chest seemed to be contracting normally. Once she did find her breath, she managed to pant almost, forgetting if she was breathing during her race. The wind disappeared once her car stopped moving, resulting in the beads of sweat dripping down her forehead faster. Her hair, a previous high bun, was now a loose, slightly matted end mess, managing to be still away from her flushed face. For the first time since the start of the race, her eyes met a sea full of people. All faces she'd never seen, all…smiling? She wore a face of confusion, why were they all smiling at her? From what just happened, Kin knocked her car to the side and she watched as Kin sped past her right before approaching this entrance.

 _But, come to think of it…._

Tenten's head shifted around to absurd her surroundings.

 _Where was Kin's car?_

As if on time, the blaring of loud, metal music suddenly became louder from behind Tenten. Tenten's eyes grew wide.

"Tenten you did it! You won!" Ino's voice pierced over the screaming crowd, snapping Tenten from her own thoughts. Ino stood along her side of the car, sticking her head into the car, placing her hands over the rolled down window. Tenten was taken aback, speechless as if she was about to tear up. She'd won? She'd really beat Kin?

Tenten turned her head to her side to view the scene unfolding now beside her vehicle. Kin's music was still blasting from the stereo system, drowning out the visible rant she was spewing. Her red hair thrashing about and arms flaring inside her vehicle.

Tenten did win.

"Oh my Kami, I _really_ did win.." Tenten's voice was unusually soft, as if not wanting to wake from this dream she felt she was in. Ino took a few steps back, allowing Tenten to open her car door once her seatbelt was off. She stood before a large crowd, all cheering over her victory. Tenten stood still in place, arms to her side, as she looked around the tight circle of people. Finally, she snapped out of her daze and met Ino's eyes again. They squealed and hugged each other tightly. Sakura approached the two and gave Tenten a tight hug as well. Tenten wore a large genuine smile. One she hadn't used since the passing of her mother. She couldn't put this moment into words, accepting the smiling faces around her. Naruto coming into the picture to place his hand on her back and congratulated her. Sasuke and Shikamaru standing not too far away and smirking in Tenten's direction. She nodded her head in acknowledgment. Ino and Sakura began speaking to Tenten, however she couldn't hear them. She barely saw their lips moved because she was focusing her sight elsewhere. The one person she wanted to speak to, she admittedly wanted a congratulations from, was nowhere in sight. Tenten smiled faintly at Ino and Sakura before disappearing into the tight crowd. Ino and Sakura eyed one another before shrugging their shoulders.

Strangers gave Tenten a high five or a pat on the back, as she dove deeper into the sea of strange faces seeking only one.

"Tenten." Tenten turned around to the deep voice behind her.

"Neji.."

Her features were flushed, brown waved hair stuck against the nape of her neck as the rest cascaded down her backside. Her chest rose and sank quicker than usual underneath her ribbed black tank top. Lips parted open slightly, and skin wet from sweat. Her eyes stayed on Neji, allowing herself to be lost temporarily in his lavender pools..

Neji blinked. "You won."

Tenten smiled genuinely but not as big as the first time.

"I did.."

"I'm glad you didn't embarrass me."

Tenten's face fell and her upper lip rose in disgust. "What did you just say?!" Her fists balled beside her legs. Unfazed, Neji leaned towards Tenten, reaching her flushed face close enough to take in her scent, faint strawberries, he whispered so only she could hear him.

Tenten's eyes widened as the words she thought she'd never hear escaped his lips. Satisfied with the result, Neji leaned back and turned around, only to disappear in the crowd and leave behind a confused Tenten. The words from Neji replaying n her mind….

" _I'm proud of you."_

Heaven-3

Hell-4

I'm Back! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA And I shall obviously continue! Upcoming Chapter soon! Look out! Review or add this story to your favorites or alerts!


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